Maelstrom of the Sea's
by Mach9330
Summary: Naruto is reborn into the world of Percy Jackson as the only son of Poseidon As the center of a Great Prophecy once more, will he save the world, or will he let Olympus burn, especially when he finds out what the gods are like? Naruto x harem.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**The afterlife**

"How long has it been, since I ended up here?' asked Naruto, sitting in a blank white space, that seemed to travel endlessly in every direction.

"A few millennia.", came a grave voice belonging to the Shinto God of Death, the Shinigami.

"And have you and your brothers made a decision on my proposal?" Naruto asked looking over to the deity who had been his longtime friend ever since he was stuck in the afterlife.

"Yes but are you sure you want to this, though? Once I send you and your mother into that universe, you won't be able to return to this one." Shinigami said, as Naruto wanted to be reborn and live again. Unfortunately, his dad was stuck in his stomach. He was also allowed to keep his chakra.

"I didn't live a good life in my last one. I need to do better in this one." Naruto said. He had been a great hero and leader, but a shitty parent. He needed to do better this time around, with his mother to actually raise him, he would be able to live a more fulfilling life.

"I'm ready." Naruto said, as Shinigami wrapped them in a white light, and he vanished from the dimension where the Shinto gods resided.

**Percy Jackson Universe**

**16 years later**

**Empire State Building**

It was a particularly stormy night, with thunder booming through the air and lightning crackling, then all of a sudden, it stopped. As if by some magical force.

At the docks, a body of water and a rumbling noise could be heard. Then a man wearing Greek armor surged up from the peaceful waters, with an angry expression and stormed towards the shore.

The man, Poseidon, rose up to full height of 25 feet, and a fisherman watched him in shock. Poseidon stepped onto the concrete and transformed into a normal looking human with ordinary clothes.

Poseidon walked down the street and towards the Empire State Building. A few minutes later. He could be seen at the top. Poseidon walked towards another man, who was looking out on the city. "Zeus," Poseidon said in a deep voice.

Poseidon walked up to face Zeus. "Poseidon," Zeus said.

"Its been many years since we met like," Poseidon said gravely. Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus rarely ever meet with each other outside of the annual meetings on Olympus. That they were meeting like this now…well, the last time was when they made the oath to have no more children.

Zeus looked out at the city. " What do you see?" Zeus asked and his brother looked around.

"Thunderclouds," Poseidon replied.

"But no lightning," Zeus pointed out. Poseidon looked warily at him. "The Master Bolt has been stolen." Zeus said, turning his whole body towards his brother. Zeus walked away and Poseidon's eyes followed him.

"What?" Poseidon said before following his brother. "You think I took it? Being King has blinded you brother. You know as well as I that no God can steal another's symbol of Power."

Zeus stopped walking and so did Poseidon. "But our children can." Zeus shot back.

Poseidon looked at his sibling in shock. "You dare accuse my son," He said in disbelief. "I haven't seen him since he was a baby. He doesn't know who I am or even who he is because of the damn laws." Poseidon spat.

"If your son is the thief," Zeus pause, his paranoia on full display. "I will send him to the depths of Tartarus."

Poseidon grabbed Zeus and brings him close. "If you touch him" Poseidon growled. "I will dethrone you and cast you into the Pit to join our father myself."

Zeus pushes Poseidon away. They stare at each other. "He must return the bolt to me by midnight on the summer solstice," Zeus snarled. He walked away from a glowering Poseidon. "Or there will be war." Zeus finished and blasted the door open. A glowing light came from the door and Zeus glared at his brother once more before entering the door. Then all the pieces of the broken door fixed itself.

**Highschool **

**Next Day**

In the bottom of the pool was Naruto Uzumaki, with black hair and purple eyes, sitting and thinking to himself. His life here in this life had been much better so far. It was so much less stressful, not having to worry about ninja and being a jinchurriki, seeing as Naruto was the only ones around in this world with chakra or shinobi training. This time around, with an actual education and his mother, Naruto had grown up much more fulfilled, especially since his mother taught him everything she knew as a shinobi.

Of course, no life is perfect. His father, the Greek God Poseidon, was unable to be around, due to ancient laws gods follow that prevent them from raising their children. Plus, he could not let his brother's know about Naruto, as there was this oath made after the 2nd World War that no more children would be born to the Big Three. Of course, Poseidon only broke it because Zeus had first.

Plus, he was always under threat from monsters, but thanks to his shinobi training and his father's blood granting him powerful affinities for Earth, Water, and Wind, he easily fended off the threats. Naruto had a rare gift amongst demigod's, in that he had both superhuman strength and the elemental powers of his father, something that never really happens with children of the Big Three. Of course, Naruto was did not inherit superstength at birth. It was more that he trained underwater for the last several years down in Challenger's Deep, so his body adapted to crushing depths, becoming far more durable and making him stronger.

Naruto also trained in his Demigod abilities. The ADHD was a real pain in the ass, since it would prevent him from focusing, so Naruto meditated a lot to combat this. Naruto managed to get around his Dyslexia problem by just reading a lot. The Aura problem was something that was much more difficult to deal with. As a son of Poseidon and a legacy of another Olympian, he already would have had a powerful aura without being aware of his heritage, but since he was, and given how strong he was, he had the aura of an adult Hercules. But Naruto had learned from his mom that there was a way to suppress his aura through meditation, and so he had done that. He wasn't able to completely suppress his aura, but he was able to make his aura have the strength of a young demi-god that was unaware of their heritage.

Naruto, seeing it was time to rise up, removed himself from the pool to see Grover, his best and really only friend, who Naruto knew was also a Satyr.

"And he's alive, haha!" Grover said and clapping could be heard.

The guy swims over to his African American friend, who was still clapping. "Naruto Uzumaki is a beast!" The guy said.

"You're a beast man! Give me some." They high fived and Naruto hauled himself up.

"How long was that?" Naruto questioned, looking at his friend.

"15 minutes," His friend responded.

"15 minutes?" Naruto asked as his friend gave him a towel.

"That's crazy man. That's ridiculous." His friend told him. "How do you do it?"

"I just like being in water," Naruto toweled off his hair. He, of course, couldn't tell his buddy that he regularly trained at the deepest point in the ocean. "It's one place I can think."

The school bell rang later as Naruto and Grover walked into the hallway. "I wish I could spend all day in the water instead of this place." Naruto muttered to the guy.

"Right?" The guy answered. They continued to walk down the hallway. "Its like high school with out the musical."

There were guys fighting in the background. "Every day it's the same thing," Grover said as they went to another class of being lectured about English.

**Next Day**

**Museum**

Naruto and his friend walking up the stairs. "Be prepared." A deep voice said in the back of Naruto's mind, but there was no one there. "Everything is about to change, Naruto." The voice said.

Naruto stopped, looking around. "Everything is about to change." The voice repeated. Poseidon in human size could be seen in the crowd.

"Dad." Naruto muttered, Poseidon smiling as he heard it. He was staring at Naruto and the demigod caught a glimpse of him but when the bus whizzed past, he vanished. Naruto frowned, heading inside.

Inside, Mr. Bruner was giving a lecture to the class circled around statues. "There are twelve Olympian gods." The teacher said. "The Big Three are the brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades."

"They obtain power by over throwing their father," The man pointed somewhere. "Kronos. By chopping him into little pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father. The three gods have been rivals ever since. Always arguing, always threatening war." The teacher stared at Naruto and his friend, who shrugged. The class moved over to another section of the museum.

"Several occasions they would come down to Earth and... um. How should I put this?" The teacher asked.

"Hook up?" Grover offered. The whole class laughed.

"They would hook up with mortals." The teacher finished.

"The children of these unions were half god, half human." The teacher looked around.

"Can anyone tell me what they were called?" The man glanced at Naruto. "Naruto," He said.

Naruto looked at Mr. Brunner for a second before answering. "Demigod." Naruto stated.

"Exactly," Mr. Brunner agreed. "Many became great heroes." Mr. Brunner informed the class.

"Like Hercules," Mr. Brunner said. "And Achilles. Can you name another?" Mr. Brunner looked expectant.

Naruto looked upwards at a statue. There was Greek on the top. It was a painting of Theseus defeating the Minotaur.

"Theseus, Son of Poseidon. Another was Perseus, son of Zeus." Naruto answered.

Mr. Brunner nodded. "Correct." He stated and wheeled away saying, "Now over here we have a depiction of Hercules defeating the Nemean Lion."

The class gathered around the picture. "Hercules killed the beast with his bare hands and took the skin as a trophy."

"Naruto," Mrs. Dodds said. Naruto slowly turned towards her.

"Yes Mrs. Dodds?" He asked.

"We need to talk." She told him.

He raised his eyebrows, danger sense honed by years of being a shinobi and killing monsters going off in the back of his mind. "Okay," He said, following her.

Naruto looked back, before following her with a suspicious look. They entered an empty room. "So, did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, walking away from her. He turned around. "Mrs. Dodds? Hello?" He called into the empty room.

'_So, the little monster wants to play games, does she?'_

"Where is it?" Mrs. Dodds hissed from up on a high platform.

"Where is what?" Naruto looked extremely confused, even though he was playing around with her.

Mrs. Dodds bared her teeth. She jumped off and transformed into her true form, which while still human-like, had leathery bat wings, claws, a mouth full of huge ugly yellow teeth, and glowing eyes.

"Well, that's new," Naruto said in interest. '_What is one of the Furies doing here? What do they think I stole? I must find out.'_

The Fury dived at him, but when Naruto fell to the floor in his act, she missed and went over him. Naruto looked up in fear, though it was difficult to do, given how pathetic the creature was.

"You stole the lightning bolt." The creature hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Naruto shouted at the thing.

The creature grabbed Naruto and lifted him off the ground. "Give it to me!" She hissed.

While holding Naruto in the air, the creature growled, "Give it to me now or I will bite your throat out!"

"Going to be hard to do with no spine," Came Naruto's calm and dark voice behind her, and Alecto had no time to react as Naruto landed a double dropkick on her back, breaking Alecto's entire spine, causing her to crumble to the floor.

"H-How?" Alecto demanded and that was when the Naruto she had been threatening dissolved into water.

"**Water Clone Jutsu.** Very useful for fooling my enemies." Naruto explained, not she would understand. Knowledge of the Shinto dimension is above her paygrade.

"Now, you mentioned a Lightning Bolt. I'm curious what it is you think I stole. The only interaction I've had with you monster's is when you all hunt me. Other than that, I've never met any of the God's, nor do I know where Olympus is."

"Now then," Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles and pulled out a silver Gerber Mark 2, which Alecto noted was the Enchanted Silver that the Hunters of Artemis use, "You are going to tell me everything."

"You can't torture me! I am a Fury! We are the master's of torment!" Alecto then cried out when Naruto started skinning her arm.

"You've clearly never met my mother or Anko Mitarashi." Naruto said menacingly as he began his special session.

A few minutes later, the door opened. Grover came rushing in along with Mr. Bruner, having realized that the Fury had lead Naruto away from the group. So they were then surprised to see Naruto break Alecto's neck, who dissolved into golden dust, going back to the Underworld. The centaur and satyr only caught a glimpse of Alecto, but she looked like she had been skinned alive.

"Naruto! Hey man, are you okay?" Grover said as looked at his friend/ charge, who was covered in blood.

"I'm fine." Naruto said.

"Your covered in blood, man." Grover said.

"It's not my blood. Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned that Alecto was able to find me." Naruto asked.

"The head of the Furies." Mr. Brunner said. "Concealed in our school. I should have known." Mr. Brunner muttered.

Mr. Brunner looked serious. "What did she want from you?" He asked.

"She wanted to know if I was the one who stole Zeus's lightning bolt." Naruto explained. Mr. Brunner looked uneasy.

"They found him." Mr. Brunner whispered. Grover looked scared. Naruto looked at them.

"He's no longer safe anymore." Mr. Brunner muttered. "Okay, where should we move him?" Grover asked.

"We have no choice. The camp." Mr. Brunner answered.

"What camp?" Naruto asked. They both shot Naruto a look.

"They think he's the thief." Mr. Brunner informed Naruto's companion. "There is no place safe on Heaven or Earth for him now besides the camp."

Mr. Brunner whispered. He looked at Naruto. "Naruto." Mr. Brunner said, getting his attention as he gave him a pen. "Take this, use it to defend yourself. It is a powerful weapon, use it only in extreme danger."

'_Bruner knows more than he's letting on.'_ Naruto thought as he clicked the pen and it turned into a exquisite and powerful bronze xiphos.

"What is this weapon called?" Naruto wondered.

"**Anaklusmos."** Chiron said.

"Riptide," Naruto translated for him, clicking the sword back to it's normal form as a pen.

"Get him to the Camp." Mr. Brunner commanded Naruto's friend, and then grabbed him by the shirt. "Don't stop for anything and don't let him out of your sight." Grover nodded, looking at Naruto.

"Okay, Naruto come on. Come on man, COME ON!" He shouted, running with Naruto following.

Once they got outside, Grover started talking again. "Look, just don't trust anyone, okay?" He advised Naruto. "Don't look at anybody, just keep walking."

"Why did Mr. Brunner ask you to watch me?" Naruto questioned, while he and his friend were pushing through the crowd.

"Because I'm your protector." Grover said and Naruto couldn't help but scoff.

"My protector? Are you kidding?" Naruto asked. His best friend looked down at himself.

"What, because I'm like this," the guy lifted up a crutch. "I'm not capable of keeping you safe?" His friend demanded.

"I've been on my own for nearly 7 years since my mother was murdered right before my eyes, Grover, and I've had to kill at least 30 monster's since then. What makes you think I need protection!?" Naruto demanded and Grover stopped himself from retorting, lest he say something insulting.

"Look we can argue later, but first, we gotta get you to the camp," Grover told him. "C'mon Naruto."

"Fine, then we're taking a taxi." Naruto said as he waved down a taxi, who then stopped and Naruto opened the door. "And you can tell me all about this Camp Half-Blood." Grover sighed as he knew he would not be able to get out of this one.

**Later that night**

Naruto had paid the human driving the taxi a large sum of money to drive them to Camp Half-Blood. Meanwhile, Grover had told Naruto everything about Camp-Halfblood.

They were still talking when Grover saw something in the rearview. "HEY, WATCH OUT!" The African American boy shouted at the top of his lungs to the driver.

A moo could be heard and the cow hit the hood of the car and bounced off. The car flipped over and they were all screaming. The car was now upside down on the street. Naruto groaned in pain.

"Naruto," Grover tried to sit up.

"Grover, you alright?" Naruto groaned in pain. Naruto absentmindedly noticed the driver was dead.

"Is it me, or is it raining cows?" Grover looked at Naruto. Naruto glanced out the window. His eyes widened when he saw a bull man figure in the distance.

"Fuck! It's the Minotaur! We need to go!" Naruto said as he ripped off the seat belt and punched the broken door clean off it's hinges allowing him and Grover to get out of the car.

Grover grabbed the backpack. "C'mon man, let's go! Its getting closer!" Grover slipped on the backpack while jumping up and down.

Naruto got out and stood. "You don't even need those crutches." Naruto handed Grover the crutches.

"Those were just for show." Grover informed him. They then heard a howl of a dozen wolves and movement in the grasses where the Minotaur was. "Oh no," Grover said in fear.

"What the fuck is that howling!?" Naruto said as they ran towards the camp.

"It's Lycaon and his pack of werewolves! We need to run!" Grover shouted as they ran.

They climbed over a fence and continued running.

"Come on! Come on, run!" Grover kept shouting. There was a crash and Grover looked back, still running. The bull man lifted the car over its head.

The Minotaur roared and chucked the car at them. They dived and the car sailed over them, slamming into the ground. They scrambled up and kept running.

"Come on, man!" Grover yelled. They ran through the forest and torches could be seen. "We're here!" Grover exclaimed. There was a arch with Greek words. As Naruto looked at it, the words jumbled until it spelled, Camp Half-Blood.

It was then that a werewolf came out of nowhere and bit Grover in the leg, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground. The werewolf pulled it's jaw's off Grover's leg and went for his throat. That was when it was stabbed in the head by Naruto with his silver Gerber Mark 2.

"Grover!" Naruto said as he helped Grover to his feet. He looked back to see the Minotaur, Lycaon and his wolves closing in. He looked to the gate and he wouldn't make it carrying Grover. And, he wanted revenge for the bastards hurting his friend.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu,"** Naruto said as he used one of his signature techniques and created a clone, who took Grover from him. "Get him inside and get him help." The clone nodded and dragged Grover to the barrier, as he turned to the Minotaur make it to him first.

The Minotuar didn't waste anytime and lowered it's horns and charged at Naruto. Naruto was prepared for it though, and grasped it horns, beginning a contest of strength. The Minotaur pushed with all it's might, trying to impale Naruto with it's horn's, while Naruto held the horns and his feet dug themselves into the ground. Seeing that the Minotaur was stronger and pushing him back, Naruto switched tactic's, jumping over the Minotaur's head before letting go off his horn's and kicking off his back. Naruto pulled out a kunai with a paperbomb on it and threw it at the Minotaur, the bomb exploding as it hit the monster.

Naruto landed on a tree branch as the Minotaur emerged from the explosion, bleeding and burnt in several areas but otherwise fine. Naruto pulled out Riptide and clicked it, the pen transforming into the sword, before jumping down on the roaring monster and slicing down, cutting off one of the bull man's horns and leaving a deep bleed cut on his abdomen.

The Minotaur tried to punch Naruto but Naruto ducked and weaved under the attack before channeling Wind Chakra into Riptide for his **Flying Swallow** Jutsu, and sliced open the monster's gut, causing his innards to spill out, before Naruto finished him off by cutting off the head of the Minotaur in one clean stroke. As the head hit the ground, the Minotaurs body turned to golden dust.

"Tch, that useless bull. Can't do anything right," Came a voice as a man with red eyes and wearing nothing but furs and a bronze crown on his head stepped out of the shadows, while Naruto was surrounded on all sides by the Werewolves.

"…A demigod traveling with a satyr. Just as we were told." The man said.

"So, someone, I'm guessing either Zeus or Hades, sent you after me. Maybe they shouldn't have started with the B-team." Naruto insulted and Lycaon growled at the insult.

"Insolent little shit." The wolves snarled along with the man. "Do you know who you speak to? I am Lycaon."

"Yeah, I know who you are," Naruto said as his eyes narrowed. "You're that dumbass that tried to feed Zeus human flesh and kill him in his sleep."

"You know my story then?" Lycaon asked, snarling. "Zeus killed my sons and turned me into what I am today!"

"Says the one who fed Zeus his own son," Naruto retorted as he pulled out one of his Enchanted Silver Gerber Mark 2's. "You have only yourself to blame for what happened to you."

Lycaon's eyes narrowed even further. "What did you say?"

"I said it's your own damn fault for being an arrogant dumbass," Naruto said. He tightened his grip on his knife and prepared to use another jutsu.

Lycaon snarled and gnashed his teeth before turning to his pack. "Kill him!"

"Ain't gonna happen!" Naruto shouted as he jumped into the air, avoiding being dog-piled and threw the knife before quickly going through a series of handseals at lightning speed, shouting, "**Kunai Shadow clone Jutsu!"** As if by magic, the single Gerber became 400, unleashing a rainstorm of silver weapons into the pack, killing all of the werewolves except Lycaon, who had jumped back and watched in horror as the 'insolent little shit' killed his entire pack, their bodies turning to gold dust just like the Minotaur.

"You fucking brat!" Lycaon shouted as he shifted into some kind of furry, muscular hybrid form, but his face, the crown on his head, and the red eyes remained unchanged. "I'll kill you!"

"Come on, then," Naruto said as he pulled his silver Gerber out of the ground.

"Die!" The monster shouted.

Naruto braced himself as the hybrid Lycaon leapt at him,. He fell to his back, using his feet to dig into Lycaon's stomach and flipping the lycanthrope over him into a tree. Lycaon quickly got to his feet. He glared at Naruto, his red eyes gleaming with bloodlust

"I'll enjoy feasting on your flesh," Lycaon said.

Naruto crossed his fingers in front of his face. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Ten clones appeared at his side and Lycaon grinned savagely. "They're not illusions...More meat for the grind. I will feast on your flesh for a week!"

"That won't be happening," Naruto said, one of the duplicates running forward and stabbing Lycaon in the back with his copy of Naruto's knife. Lycaon snarled at the offending clone and backhanded it into a tree, where it landed face first and dispelled. More clouds of smoke followed as Lycaon ripped through them like tissue paper, the smoke filling the area.

"Solid copies," Lycaon said as he realized what Naruto had done and how he had murdered his whole pack. He had a deep snarl on his face. "You must be killed, you're too powerful!"

"Not the first time I've heard that," Naruto said as his voice filled the area. Lycaon turned around to see Naruto delivering a flying kick to his face, sending Lycaon crashing through a tree.

Naruto kept up his attack, running forward with his hand back and a sphere of energy forming. He leapt into the air and prepared to drive his **Rasengan **into the wolf king's chest, only for the lycanthrope to roll out of the way. The ground exploded and when the dust cleared there was a massive crater, Naruto's hand hovering over it.

"That was impressive." Lyacon had a gleam in his eye. He lifted a clawed hand up to slice through Naruto when another kick connected with his face, sending him flying through another 50 feet. Lycaon looked up to see the Naruto he had been fighting vanish into thin air and the air ripple to reveal the real Naruto, except he was different. His irises had changed color and had green pigmentation around his eyes that extended to his ears and had a marking on his forehead with a dot in the center. This was Sage Mode.

Even though he no longer had a contract with the Toads, Naruto could still use Sage Mode, he just had to go about it a different way, like his mother had. In this life, his mom was a daughter of Demeter, which oddly enough, allowed her to awaken her latent Kekkai Genkai she inherited from her grandfather Hashirama, as she was his granddaughter in their old life. Anywho, she rediscovered how to use sage mode while mastering Wood Style and taught it to Naruto before she was killed on that cruise back from Greece.

"Wha-" Lycaon tried to ask but was unprepared as Naruto appeared in front of him and punched him in the jaw, breaking off some of Lycaon's teeth. Lycaon growled and swiped at Naruto only for Naruto to duck and weave around him as Naruto his fist into Lycaon's gut, rupturing his intestine's to the point Lycaon coughed up blood. Naruto punched toward's his head and Lycaon's managed to maneuver out of the way. It was then that Naruto's natural energy extended out and made contact with Lycaon's cheek, allowing the strike to still hit Lycaon, which sent him rolling away.

Lycaon got up, wondering why he was hit as Naruto pulled out a Enchanted Silver Kopis with a black handle from his sealing tattoo. On the handle was the red swirl of the Uzumaki.

"That sword! You're Kushina Uzumaki's brat!" Lycaon said in recognition as he saw a visage of Kushina standing menacingly next to Naruto.

"That's right," Naruto said darkly with an evil smirk. "And just like my mother did nearly a dozen times, I'm gonna make you my little bitch, you pitiful reject of a king."

"No! I won't suffer anymore humiliation from that bitch!" Lycaon roared as he rushed at Naruto and swiped at his throat but Naruto caught the arm and chopped it off at the shoulder with an upward swing. Roaring in pain, Lycaon swung with his other hand and Naruto's kopis made contact with the werewolf king's elbow, cutting through the flesh and bone until the arm fell off and Lycaon was left armless. Lycaon didn't give up and tried to bite Naruto but Naruto gripped the armless werewolf by the head and held him back before smashing Lycaon's face with the butt of the handle 3 times, before Spartan Kicking him in the chest, breaking the werewolf's ribcage and sending him to the ground.

Lycaon managed to pull himself back to his feet but he was in so much pain and just a mess. He looked at Naruto in fear, as the way he was standing, with his Sage Mode on, the kopis held at his side, Lycaon's blood dripping off the sword and shadows covering Naruto body, Lycaon was reminded of the first time Kushina had made him her 'little bitch'. Lycaon and his pack had raped and mauled one of the Huntresses to death, someone who had been a friend of Kushina's. In response, she killed his entire pack, beat him to a pulp, and skinned him alive until he was begging for death. When Naruto walked toward him and raised his sword as if to throw it, the werewolf whimpered and looked away, now as afraid of Naruto as he was of his mother. Naruto threw it but the sword did not hit Lycaon, instead landing right in front of him. Lycaon slowly looked away from the sword and to Naruto just in time to see Naruto pull his arm back to deliver an uppercut to his chin and then darkness was all he knew.

Naruto reached up and caught the falling head of Lycaon, which was dissolving into gold dust like the rest of his body, although Lycaon's bronze crown remained as a trophy.

Naruto gathered the Minotaur horn and walked through the boundaries of the camp, before he exited Sage Mode. His mother had warned him that using Sage Mode in this world was not a pleasant experience since humans had destroyed much of nature and the wrath and rage of nature was much more prominent here than in the Elemental Nations. That and the possibility of gaining the attention of Gaea, but in his haste to finish Lycaon without risking getting bit, he had forgotten that and fell unconscious in exhaustion as some campers were making their way to him.

While a group of demi-gods helped Naruto to the infirmary, an entity stirred beneath the earth. A small tremor was felt in the area that Naruto, the Minotaur, and Lycaon had fought in. It was searching for the source of whatever had drawn on nature's power. Mostly out of curiosity.

Gaea, Primordial Goddess of the Earth, was very interested in Naruto Uzumaki. Very Interested.

**Chapter End**

**SO, this was a little challenge that I had been working on for the past month.**

**Enchanted Silver does not exist in the Percy Jackson Canon, so I made it up. As far as I know, the Huntresses use strictly silver weapons to hunt, so I have to imagine that their silver is special, especially if it can kill monster's other than Lycaon and his werewolves.**

**Also, Annabeth and Clarisse will be played by their actor's in the movie's.**

**Next time: Settling into Camp **


	2. Settling in

**Chapter 2 - Settling in**

**Naruto's Dream**

Naruto was standing in a field of ripe wheat with the sun shining down on him. There was also someone behind him.

"Demeter," Naruto said as he turned around. To see Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture and Fertility, of Sacred Law and the Harvest, the Earth, Seasons, Nourishment and bread. And his grandmother.

Demeter herself wore a bright green dress with a dark cape, which gave her the appearance of fresh plant shoots breaking through fertile earth whenever she moved. She also wore a crown of woven corn leaves and adornments of poppies, and had a sweet distinctive scent of a rainstorm over a field of jasmine.

"Naruto, it's good to see you." Demeter smiled at the son of her most cherished demi-god daughter. "You know, I prefer you it if you call me grandmother."

"Sorry," Naruto chuckled, "Force of habit. It's just…you don't call, text, and hardly even send me messages like this."

"I am sorry about that Naruto, but I am bound by the Ancient Laws. There is only so much I can interfere in your life. And to be honest, I wasn't sure you wanted to see me. I couldn't protect my own daughter, after all," Demeter said sadly.

Naruto immediately closed the distance between them and hugged Demeter, who returned the hug. "Do not ever think that I blamed you for mom's death. We were out at sea when they came for us. You're the goddess of Earth. There wasn't anything you could do."

"Now, as much as I'd love catching up, I know this isn't a social call." Naruto said as he pulled away, causing his lovely grandmother to sigh.

"You used Sage Mode." Demeter said, causing Naruto to groan.

"I didn't want to risk getting bitten by Lycaon. As far as I know, I don't have Kurama and the Biju anymore to fix me up for being stupid. I didn't want to take the risk of losing my chakra and being turned into his little slave, so yeah, I used it." Naruto said.

Demeter pursed her lips as she remembered one of the few times she had been able to sneak away to secretly visit Kushina and Naruto, where Kushina had told her all about her grandson's former life and accomplishments. Suffice to say, it was mind-boggling for the 7000+ year old goddess that her grandson was powerful enough to take on a Primordial Goddess who could possibly give Gaea or Tartarus a run for their money and win, and then have enough energy left to fight his literal equal, and win, coming out with only a missing arm.

"I'm not angry, just concerned. There are maybe four gods in our history powerful enough to sense to you drawing on nature's power. Artemis and I are Olympians. One of them, Pan, faded millennia ago, and the other…drawing her attention could be a problem for you." Demeter said.

Naruto wracked his brain, trying to think of who his grandmother was talking about. Obviously Demeter and Artemis would have been able to sense his use of Sage Mode, but who was the 3rd deity? Suddenly, his eyes widened and he looked back at Demeter. "Gaea is supposed to be asleep."

Even in their dream, they could feel the earth rumble a bit.

"She is the Earth itself, grandson. Even asleep, she is aware of everything going on here on the surface." Demeter warned in a serious tone, a far cry from her usual over bearing attitude as a mother. "Because you drew on nature's power, she is now aware of you, and will be watching you."

"To do what?" Naruto wondered.

"See if you are a threat, most likely. Beyond that, I have no idea." Demeter said. "Remember, she is an enemy of Olympus. She birthed the Giants with Tartarus for the sole purpose of destroying us. Be wary of her."

Naruto nodded as he understood where she was coming from, though he did not personally agree with it. "I will try to be more careful about using Sage Mode in the future."

"That's the best I can ask of you. You are just as headstrong as your mother was." Demeter said with a smile. "I have to leave. I will try to visit you again soon. Remember to eat your Wheaties!".

"You darn woman, you know I don't eat even Wheaties! Ramen for the win!" Naruto shouted comically.

"Just like your mother. Honestly, what is it with you two and your fascination with ramen? It's nothing but broth and noodles! Wheat will make you big and strong!" Demeter said in a comical way.

"Do you see these muscles!?" Naruto said comically as he flexed his impressive biceps, "I grew these with nothing but ramen!"

Demeter smiled as she was reminded of Kushina telling her something similar. "Alright, but we are not done with this conversation yet." Demeter smiled as she kissed his forehead and his dream seemed to end.

**Real World**

Naruto moved his head, his eyes shut. Then his eyes fluttered open and he rubbed his eyes with a hand.

"Naruto," Someone said as he woke up, "So glad you're alive."

Grover walked up, wearing a leather chest plate.

Naruto sat up, holding his head. "Ow," He muttered.

Naruto finally looked around and took in his surroundings. "Let me guess. I'm in the infirmary." Naruto said.

"Yeah. You've been unconscious for three days." Grover told him.

"Three days?" Naruto inquired, shocked. Grover nodded very slightly.

"Ugh," Naruto rubbed his head, as he felt like he had a splitting headache and he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was a side effect of using Sage Mode after so long? He'd have to figure that out later. "Listen, uh, could you see if you got any more of that medicine you gave me?" Naruto had been in and out of it for a few days but remembered them spoon-feeding him something.

"Nectar," Grover corrected. "But sure, I'll get it. You just sit tight." Grover returned pretty quickly with the nectar and gave it to his black-haired friend. Naruto drank all of it in one gulp.

When he finished, Grover asked, "Was it good?"

"It was amazing." Naruto said with slight bliss.

"What did it taste like?" he asked, sounding wistful.

Naruto was wondering why Grover didn't take any for himself.

"Sorry," Naruto said. "I should've let you taste."

Grover's eyes went wide. "No, man! That's not what I meant. I just… wondered."

"Like my mom's homemade Ramen," Naruto told him, gaining a far off look as he did.

Grover sighed. "And how do you two feel?"

"Like I could benchpress Mount Rushmore." Naruto answered as he pulled the covers off and sat up, grabbing the horn of the Minotaur and the crown of Lycaon as they walked out.

They started walking outside as Grover and him talked. "So, this is Camp Half-Blood." Naruto said, as he looked around.

"Yep, this is the place I told you about." Grover laughed and slung an arm around Naruto. "Look, but you're not alone. There's hundreds, if not thousands of demi-god's in the world. Some leading normal lives and some I'm not allowed to name become very famous. Like White House famous."

Grover thumped Naruto's chest. "See man, this place right here... its where you learn how to harness your powers. Everyone is training to become leaders, warriors, and heroes."

Grover and Naruto headed over to a small area of grass where there were a lot of demi-gods sparring. "This is where a lot of demi-gods do their training_."_ Grover informed him. It was then that Naruto noticed a beautiful 17 year old girl fighting 3 demi-gods at once.

Naruto watched her intently as she sparred and held off the 3 demi-gods. She kicked one guy and blocked the strike that came at her from behind. She swiped at one of the demi-gods and he fell. Then she turned on the other guy and had her sword under his chin.

"What's her name?" Naruto asked Grover as he kept his eye on her.

Grover laughed. "She will squash you like a bug."

Naruto just looked annoyed. "Considering I made Lycaon my little bitch, that's unlikely. Her name."

"Annabeth, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom." Grover answered.

'_And Battle, Strategy, Arts and Crafts, if I remember correctly,'_ Naruto thought as he eyed her. Annabeth met his stare and flipped her hair. Now that he thought about it, he kinda remembered she was helping take care of him while he was in the infirmary.

"Fuck it," Naruto muttered as he decided to go introduce himself.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Grover asked.

"I'm gonna go introduce myself." Naruto said as he walked over to her, while his friend muttered something before hurrying after him. He didn't want his new friend to get beat up by his oldest friend, excluding Luke and Thalia.

"Annabeth, right?" Naruto asked for confirmation when he reached her.

"Yeah, that is my name," Annabeth said to him.

"Naruto Uzumaki. I wanted also thank you for taking care of me while I was in the infirmary." Naruto said, holding out his hand to shake, gaining a look of recognition for Annabeth.

"You remember that?" She asked in surprise as she shook his hand, as she figured since he had been mostly asleep, the guy wouldn't have remembered.

"Some of it. I've been kind of in and out of it the last 3 days." Naruto admitted as he then pulled a training sword from the rack. "Care for a spar?"

"Always but are you sure? You just got out of the infirmary. I'd feel bad about putting you back in so soon." Annabeth said.

"What's wrong? Scared of getting beat by the new guy?" Naruto teased and Annabeth smirked back at him.

"Hey Grover. I'll handle our new guy from here. Why don't you go and see your girlfriend? Juniper's really missed you." Annabeth said.

Grover looked like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place but eventually left.

Annabeth swung at Naruto's head but he managed to block the attack, though he was surprised how fast the attack came at him. She swung at his chest and he blocked it again before she swiped at his right side and Naruto parried it, causing her to stumble away for a bit. "So, what's this about Grover having a girlfriend?" Naruto asked.

Naruto relieved his wrist tension by spinning his sword and readied his weapon just as Annabeth returned to her stance and sliced at Naruto's knees, which was parried away. "Grover has a longtime girlfriend named Juniper. They've been together for a few years now." Annabeth said.

Annabeth stabbed at Naruto which was parried and then attempted an overhead strike, which made Naruto spin pivot on his feet and parry away. "Really, he always kinda seemed more like a ladies man to me." Naruto said.

As Naruto blocked her next strike, he delivered a palm thrust to her stomach that sent her to the ground.

"Don't let her hear you say that. She probably wouldn't like that too much." Annabeth said as she hopped back to her feet.

Naruto swung at Annabeth's neck but missed. They both swung at each other and their swords clashed. Just then, Annabeth kicked out his knee, causing him to tumble to the ground. She placed the tip of her training sword on his chest. '_Okay, clearly I held back way too much with her,'_ Naruto thought in mild embarrassment.

"Yield?" Annabeth asked, and Naruto nodded as though he did lose only because he held back too much, he still lost and would accept this defeat with humility. She pulled the sword away and helped him up. "That was pretty good. You had some training before you came here?" She asked.

"Yeah. Right now, I'm much better with a knife and hand-to-hand but I did get some sword training. From my mom. She was… in the know, if you will" Naruto said, getting that far-away look he always gets whenever he talks about his mom. A look that Annabeth recognized.

"You don't have to talk about it." She said understandingly, "A lot of us here have lost a friend or loved one to one of the monsters trying to get here safely."

At Naruto's appreciative nod, Annabeth hung up the practice swords and nodded to him, "Come on, let's get you over to the Big House. Our camp activities director awaits."

They walked over to the Big House. Down at the end of the porch of the Big House, two men sat across from each other at a card table.

The man facing them was small, but plump. He had a red nose, watery eyes and curly hair so black it seemed purple. He looked like your average gambler, yet Naruto had a feeling that he could outsmart even the most serious gambler. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

"That's Mr. D," Annabeth whispered. "He's the camp director. Be polite. It will save you some trouble down the road. And you already Chiron."

The first thing Naruto noticed about Chiron was that he was sitting in a wheelchair. He wore a tweed jacket, had thinning brown hair, and a scraggly beard. Naruto recognized him easily.

"Mr. Brunner." Naruto said. The man looked at them with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Ah, good, Naruto. Glad to see you up and about." he said, "Excellent, now we have three for pinochle." He gestured for Annabeth and Naruto to sit down.

Naruto sat next to Mr. D, who looked at them with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you." Mr. D said.

"Charmed," Naruto replied sarcastically, already not liking this asshole. If you're supposed to be a camp director, you should at least **pretend **to be pleasant.

"Annabeth," Chiron nodded to the girl before looking back to Naruto, "This young lady nursed you back to health. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Naruto's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for the moment." Naruto knew how this whole claiming bullshit worked but since this camp was also a safehaven for Demigods, he didn't want to disrupt things too much by sounding ungrateful, so he would give his father a chance to claim him before moving into his father's cabin.

"Sure, Chiron," Annabeth said. The daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon stared at each other as she prepared to leave and she decided to tease Naruto. "You drool a little in your sleep."

Naruto balked at that and comically fell out of his chair. He didn't expect that to come out of her mouth.

Annabeth chuckled and said, "See you soon, Naruto." Before she left to go get his spot prepped.

"So," Naruto said as he readjusted himself in the chair. "Your real name is Chiron, which makes you the trainer of heroes from Greek mythology?"

The man gave Naruto a smile. "That is true."

Naruto then looked at the director as he gathered his cards to play. "So, enlighten me, what's the Olympian God of Wine and Madness doing overseeing a camp of Demi-gods?"

Mr. D gained a look of recognition as Chiron also looked at Naruto. "How could you tell?"

"You have the aura of a God, strong enough to be an Olympian, there's only one male Olympian whose names starts with D, and you just filled your glass with wine. Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac, if I'm not mistaken." Naruto explained without looking.

Mr. D looked at the wine goblet to see that he had indeed filled it with one of France's most popular wine's and feigned surprise.

"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"

Thunder rumbled through the sky again.

Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.

Chiron winked at them. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who'd been declared off-limits."

"A wood nymph, huh," Naruto repeated, as they played.

"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years. The second time- well, she was really pretty, and I couldn't stay away- the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha. Absolutely unfair." He sounded like a whiny kid.

He turned back to his game. "I believe I win."

"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."

Naruto looked at his cards and definitely didn't have the cards to win, so he folded.

Mr. D narrowed his eyes at Chiron like he was going to incinerate Chiron, but instead he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to losing to him. He got up, and Grover stood at attention.

"I'm tired," Mr. D announced. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, I need to go see about Grover's judgement."

Mr. D turned to Naruto. "Cabin Eleven, Naruto Uzumaki. And mind your manners." Dionysus then swept into the farmhouse, leaving Naruto and Chiron to themselves.

"Well, isn't he a ball of sunshine," Naruto muttered sarcastically once he left.

Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been... ah, grounded, I guess you could say, and can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed back on Olympus."

Then Chiron gave a long explanation on how the West was actually 'Western civilization', and how it was a force that moved from place to place, where it eventually moved to America.

"But for now," Chiron mused. "we should get you a bunk in Cabin Eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lesson's and training tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tomorrow tonight, and I absolutely adore chocolate."

And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about how he did it. His blanket over his legs seemed to stay in place, but his body from the waist kept rising. First, a leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. This was followed by another, then the hindquarters. Eventually, a white-bottomed centaur appeared out of the wheelchair, which was now a metal shell with fake human legs attached.

'_Well at least that answers the question on his horse-half,'_ Naruto told himself mentally.

"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Naruto Uzumaki. Let's meet the other campers."

**Later**

They passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn and Lycaon's Crown that Naruto was carrying.

Another said, "That's him."

Quite a few of the campers were older than him. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them wearing orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, nothing else covering their bare furry bottom halves. They all stared at Naruto, like they were expected to him to do something.

When they got a better view of the farmhouse as they walked by. Four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. There was a brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught their eye, a shadow in the top window of the attic.

Something had moved the curtain quickly. Naruto got the feeling he was being watched.

"What's up there?" Naruto asked Chiron, seeing the shadow too.

The centaur looked where he was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?" Naruto asked.

"No," he said firmly. "Not a single living thing."

Chiron didn't seem to be lying but he wasn't being on the up and up either. Something made him uncomfortable. "Come along," he said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.

Chiron told him the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

Apparently Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants. They just went crazy when he was around. Chiron explained, it worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

They watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction. When Naruto asked about how they did it, Chiron replied that they were using woodland magic, something only satyrs could do. This led to Naruto to think of Grover, wondering how he was doing with the god of wine.

"Grove isn't in trouble, is he?" Naruto asked Chiron, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "It wasn't his fault the Minotaur and Lycaon's pack showed up, or that I challenged them to a fight."

Chiron sighed. He took off his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse-half's back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Naruto. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable for his age. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing them safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"All of which he has done," Naruto argued in favor of his buddy.

"I might agree with you on that," Chiron said. "But it's not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover was nearly killed himself and had to be helped by you. Then there's the fact he couldn't keep you from challenging the monster's and that you survived only because you had your mother's old weapons. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."

"That's bullshit," Naruto said. "I mean, whether he was incapacitated or not, he still brought me here. Mine own faults aside, he still did his job."

"I agree with you, Naruto," Chiron said. "But still, Grover's fate isn't mine to decide."

Naruto' brows knitted together in thought. "His first assignment… died, right?" he asked him, coming to that conclusion.

Chiron's long face was the only answer given. "Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age…"

"How old is he?" Naruto wondered.

"Oh, 34." Chiron answered with a simple shrug.

Naruto raised his eyebrow in surprise. "Wait, what? And he's only a sophomore?" Naruto exclaimed in mild shock.

"Satyrs age half as slow as humans. Grover has been the equivalent of a highschooler for the past six years."

"That's horrible." Naruto shuddered.

"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"

Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?" he diverted, showing that it was likely true.

As they got closer, Naruto realized how large the forest. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees from rainforests, in Naruto' opinion.

"The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed," Chiron said,

"Stocked with what?" Naruto asked before he got it, "Ah, Monsters and weapons."

"Capture the Flag is Friday night. Typically most camper's use the swords and shields here at camp. Do you have your own shield?"

"No, a round shield doesn't work for my style of fighting. The best defense is an overpowering offense." Naruto said quoting his mother.

"…That sounds like something your mother would say," Chiron said after a moment, before looking guilty at bringing up Naruto's mom.

"How well did you know her?" Naruto asked. "She never really mentioned this place."

"She was the strongest daughter of Demeter I had ever met. The things she could do with her mother's powers defied the traditional yoke of Demeter's children. Many tend to forget that Demeter is an Elder Olympian and still very powerful. I was very sad when she left camp after 6 years to join Artemis's hunters, though I must admit, I am glad she didn't stay with them, as I'm sure you'd agree." Chiron said as they walked.

The tour continued as they saw the archery range. Next was the canoeing lake. After that, were the stables (which Chiron didn't like very much, though, he is a horse, so that's expected), the javelin range, the sing-along Amphitheatre, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.

"Sword and spear fights?" Naruto asked.

"Cabin challenges and all that," Chiron explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."

Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"What do you do when it rains?" Naruto asked curiously.

Chiron gave Naruto this weird look. "We still have to eat, don't we?"

"What, is it enchanted with magic?" Naruto asked jokingly. When Chiron smiled slyly at him, he realized he wasn't joking. "Wait, it's actually enchanted?" he asked, though Chiron's smile told him what he needed to know.

Finally, he showed them the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. They were pretty bizarre.

Each had a large brass number above the door- odds on the left, evens on the right- , looking nothing alike whatsoever. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.

Just as he was about to tell Chiron about this, as it seemed a little odd that a young girl was playing with fire, he looked into the girl's eyes. What he saw surprised him. Where her eyes should have been were flames- her eyes were literally filled with flames. But these flames weren't violent; they seemed cosy, like a small, warm fireplace.

Also, her face was shockingly beautiful for a nine year old girl, which creeped Naruto out for a second, as he was not a pedophile. There was no way that was a normal girl, she had to be a god. An Olympian, Naruto wagered, considering the aura she gave off. Suddenly, as he thought about the Olympian's, he knew who this goddess was. "Hestia," He breathed. When she looked at him, she seemed shocked also, like she wasn't used to people seeing her. Then she smiled, and waved at him. Naruto didn't know what to do, so he waved back.

When he turned towards Chiron, he didn't seem to notice anything strange. The centaur just continued walking on, as if nothing happened. When Naruto looked towards where the girl was, she was gone. Deciding to deal with it later, Naruto quickly followed Chiron.

He rejoined with Chiron just in time to see the pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two. Naruto stared at cabin one, it being the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve, also obnoxious looking too. It looked like a damn bank, for fuck sake. Cabin two was more graceful and feminine, with its slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"Zeus and Hera?" Naruto asked.

"Correct," Chiron said with a nod.

Then, Naruto got a look at cabin three. It was sea-themed, they noticed, with a more slender and low look compared to cabin one or two. It was decorated with coral shells and had a mixture of blue and green colours.

Naruto made to step inside when Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!" But it was too late.

Naruto got the smell of the sea breeze, like near the ocean. He felt a calming sensation when breathing it in.

Chiron then put a hand on Naruto's shoulders. "Come along, Naruto, there is still more to see."

As they got closer, Naruto could see that most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red, a really messy paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and finger-painted by a caveman, but less artistic.

The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to be moving like googly eyes. Inside Naruto saw a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, shouting over blaring American rock music and arm wrestling each other like they had nothing better to do.

The loudest was a girl maybe 16 or 17. She looked pretty enough with her brown hair and fit figure, though Naruto could tell from her stance she was a fighter.

They kept walking until Naruto spoke. "I haven't seen any other centaurs," he observed.

"No," said Chiron sadly. "Most of my kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."

"Oh, look," Chiron spoke. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

Annabeth reading a book with what looked like Ancient Greek. She looked up from her book, her eyes studying Naruto intently, despite the smile.

She stood in front of what seemed to be Cabin Eleven. Out of all the cabins thus far, eleven looked the most like a standard summer camp cabin, which seemed run down. Like a worn threshold, peeling brown paint, like it needed work done to it. Over the doorway there seemed to be a caduceus symbol. Inside it was packed with people, both boys and girls, with way more sleeping bags than people.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.

"Well then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Naruto, Annabeth. I'll see you both at dinner."

He galloped away towards the archery range.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on in." She urged him.

When he did, Annabeth announced, "Naruto Uzumaki, meet cabin eleven."

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

Naruto of course, knew who his father was, but decided to let the claiming work the usual way, out of respect for his grandmother and Chiron. Annabeth answered the guy who asked, "Undetermined."

Everybody in the cabin groaned at hearing that.

A blonde hair guy came up and spoke to the campers. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Naruto. You both can have that spot on the floor, right over there." He pointed to the corner.

Naruto gave the guy a once over. He looked to be in his late teens, tall and muscular but lean. He had short-cropped hair and a nice smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-coloured clay beads. He also had a scar, thick and white that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw. For some odd reason, Naruto's danger sense was going off around this guy, and not just because he was the son of Hermes. His instincts were never wrong, but Naruto had no reason to distrust him either. He would need to be cautious around this one.

"This is Luke," Annabeth said. "He's your counsellor for now. He's also one of the one's who brought you to the infirmary Naruto."

"Oh, thanks," Naruto asked.

"No problem," Luke said to him, then he explained. "You're undetermined. They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

"Also thieves too, right?" Naruto pointed out, which got some snickers from the more mischief looking kids. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to get a drill and bolt my stuff to the floor." This got even more snickers from the occupants, including Luke.

"Come on," Annabeth told him. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

When they were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Naruto, you have to do better than that."

"What do you mean?" Naruto cracked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

Naruto heard her, and scoffed, "You got a problem, Annabeth?"

"I was just hoping that you might be able to help me, but clearly I was wrong," she responded, getting back to her point.

Naruto was going to argue again, but Naruto interjected, "Look, if this is about me killing the Minotaur-"

"Don't talk like that." Annabeth told him as she stopped and turned to him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd have your chance?"

"What? To get themselves killed?" Naruto asked scathingly.

"To fight the Minotaur. What do you think we train for?" Annabeth retorted.

"To survive, which would be a waste if they were stupid enough to go after Lycaon without enchanted Silver weapons," Naruto snarked. "I don't care about glory or fame from killing monsters. I lost my mother when I was 9 thanks in part to those abominations, so excuse me if I don't care."

Annabeth winced, like she suddenly realized how bitchy she sounded.

"Look," she said, calmer now. "I'm sorry for my outburst. And I'm sorry about you losing your mother. It's just… it's serious stuff to us, what you did."

Naruto shook his head. "Look, killing the Minotaur was easy, but Lycaon and his werewolves can typically only be killed by enchanted Silver weapons, and I was only able to kill them, because my mother was a former Huntress, and she kept her weapons after she left the hunt."

"Your mom was a former huntress?" Annabeth said in awe.

"Yeah, she was their best. Lycaon hated her but also feared her while she was alive because she always humiliated him. She was so good, that she became Artemis' Lieutenant, but she left after 10 years to be with my dad. Artemis, as far as I know, doesn't like me all that much. Not that I care." Naruto said bitterly.

"I wouldn't mind hearing some stories about her sometime, if you would be willing to share." Annabeth offered.

"Why, not planning to join them, are you?" Naruto asked, finding a little annoyance that the girl he had the hots for might be interested.

"No, I'm not interested. It sounds nice and all, being young and immortal, being a better fighter and all. But the hunters, they never grow up and a few of them that I met are just running away from their problems instead of dealing with them. Plus, I don't want to swear off men." Annabeth said as she looked at him with a teasing smirk. "So, don't worry, I'm still in the market."

"I will...definitely keep that in mind," Naruto said with a smirk of his own.

Annabeth looked like she was about to flirt back, when a husky voice yelled, "Well! Looky here, a newbie!"

Three men walked over. The pretty woman from the big obnoxious red cabin was there with them.

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed with annoyance at the girl. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

'_That's what she said'_, Naruto thought, biting the inside of his cheek to not call it out.

"Sure thing, Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it on Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which Naruto understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverise you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Maybe she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat.

She turned towards Naruto. "Whose the new guy?" she asked, eyeing Naruto. He was hot and looked strong, but Clarrisse wasn't interested in just looks.

"Naruto Uzumaki" Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

Naruto blinked. "God of War?"

Clarisse looked at him with something akin to a sneer. "You got a problem with that?"

"Not with you, beautiful. I love a woman who can fight. Now I know someone else I can go to for a good spar," Naruto stated with smile, causing Clarisse blink in surprise at his blatant flirting. "Though it explains your brother's bad smell."

One of her brother's, Sherman Yang, growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, punk."

Naruto's turned to him and his expression became something odd. "Try it." Naruto said coldly, "you won't like the results." Annabeth and Clarisse saw the look in his eye and would later describe it like a hungry wolf, or a proud lion looking down on the insect that would challenge him. As if he had an air about him that said, '_I'm the king, bitches.'_

Sherman made a grab for Naruto' shoulder, but Naruto wouldn't have that.

Slapping Sherman's hand away, Naruto kneed him in the chest, knocking him off balance. The son of Ares almost tumbled over when Naruto grasped his arm and pulled him back into Naruto's waiting lariat, knocking the war god's son to the ground.

The other two son's of the war god surrounded Naruto on either side and charged while Clarisse hung back. The one behind him threw a punch at his head while the other kicked at him. Naruto raised his arm behind him and his shin, blocking both attacks. Frustrated, the two son's of Ares attacked him several times, Naruto blocking all the attacks thrown at him without actually move from his position. Naruto then Spartan kicked the one in front of him to the ground and the one behind over-reached on his haymaker. Naruto kicked his leg out, bringing the demigod to his knee's, before knocking him out with a punch to his jaw.

Naruto turned behind him and allowed the last conscious son of Ares to land a blow on his cheek. Naruto merely turned his head to the side, smirking as the son of Ares was stunned at how unaffected Naruto was. "So that's it, huh? That's all you got."

The son of Ares shouted in fury and tried to attack Naruto again, but Naruto punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of the son of Ares, before kicking him to the ground. As he tried to rise, Naruto punched him in the jaw while throwing all of his weight behind it, bringing Naruto to one knee as his punch knocked out the son of Ares.

Naruto rose to his feet and looked at Clarisse. "Care to try your luck? While I would appreciate the effort, the result will be the same."

Clarrisse looked like she might say something but instead, just let him be. "See you around, Uzumaki." She said with a smirk, already starting to like this confident hot guy and then walked away. Naruto looked at Annabeth and wondered what she was thinking about. "What?" He asked.

"I'm thinking," Annabeth said. "That I definitely want you to join my team in Capture the Flag on Friday."

"Oh, joy," Naruto muttered.

Later on, after Annabeth left, Naruto walked around deep in thought, his mind wondering so much that he arrived at the stables, he didn't notice until he bumped into someone. He reached out to grab the person falling, noticing that the figure felt feminine. His eyes met dark blue eyes that had a glow to them.

Naruto' eyes then took in the rest of the girl's features. She seemed roughly seventeen. She had silky black hair that he'd only seen in top notch salons. Her hair stopped at her lower back. She had pink eyeliner and a bit of pink lipstick on her lips, which made her even more prettier. She also wore an orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt and blue jeans. She seemed to be the most gorgeous girl Naruto ever met. Annabeth and Clarisse were hot, but this girl was something else.

The girl backed up, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"No, it was my fault. I also wasn't paying attention." Naruto apologized.

The girl giggled. She stuck out her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Silena Beareguard, nice to meet you."

Naruto smile, pleased she wasn't angry. "Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you as well." He shook her hand in greeting.

The two kept shaking hands, liking the warmth of each others hands. Then they flushed at that and took their hands back quickly. Naruto didn't know how she was having this effect on him.

"So," Naruto started, "Who's your parent?" Given the awkard air between them, he didn't know how else to start.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love," Silena shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

Naruto was suprised. She belonged to the Barbie house that was cabin ten? But she acted so… down to earth. This made Naruto instantly like her for that.

Silena's blue eyes widened as she snapped her fingers. "I remember now. You're the guy who killed the Minotaur and Lycaon's pack and appeared here 3 nights ago."

Naruto nodded, smiling. "Yep, that's me. Hey, after I have a chance to get settled in some, you wanna hang out?" he asked in a hopeful tone. He liked this girl and figured he could do with some friends.

She smiled brightly, seeming to actually like the idea. "Sure. I'd love to hang out with you." Then she waved at him. "I'll see you later." She said, walking off into the direction of the cabins.

Naruto smiled. He was starting to like it here. Just a little bit.

**Chapter End**

**So I need ideas on actresses for the following female characters**

**Demeter –**

**Amphitrite –**

**Aphrodite – **

**Hestia – (Maybe Kate Beckinsale for adult form? I don't know.)**

**Artemis –**

**Silena – With her, I'm gonna use Adriana Lima**

**Piper McClean –**

**Hera (I'm thinking of Using Angelina Jolie here, but I'm not sure) –**

**Gaea –**

**Khione –**

**Annabeth – (Now on Annabeth, I'm still using her actress from the movie, but I don't know if I want to keep Alexandra Daddario's normal appearance or go with the look she sported in movie 2, because, I got to be honest, I'm more of a fan of her natural appearance. I avoided mentioning her appearance until I could get some input)**

**I would also like to point out that I appreciate the support that I get from you all, but I do have a life of my own. I still have about 2 years of college to finish up and I am working close to full time, so I don't have as much time to update stories but I am still working on them.**


	3. Capture the Flag

**Maelstrom of the Sea's**

**This is what the harem will look like so far. Some of the girls are still undecided as far as actresses are concerned.**

**Harem**

**Confirmed: Annabeth(Alexandria Daddario, Movie 2 appearance), Clarrisee La Rue(Lleven Rambin), Aphrodite(Amber Heard or Charlotte McKinney)**

**Not Sure: Amphitrite(Penelope Cruz or Amber Heard), Hestia(Kate Beckinsale), Silena(Adriana Lima), Artemis(Scarlet Johhansson), Hera(Angelina Jolie), Persephone( Rosario Dawson or Eva Mendes), Gaea(Eva Green), Khione(Natalie Portman), Calypso(Lucy Hale), Kymopelia(Katie McGrath)**

**Chapter 3**

After the little incident concerning the Ares Cabin, people started whispering to each other about Naruto. Of course, Naruto ignored it.

Him and Annabeth passed a rock wall that had lava spewing out of it. Naruto definitely wanted to do some training on that when he got a chance.

Then there was the arts and crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man, which Naruto guessed might be Pan, God of the Wild, satyrs, and folk music.), and the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords).

Later on, they passed the canoeing lake they saw earlier. Annabeth stopped and said flatly, "I've got training to do. Dinner's always at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall. You'll need to talk to the Oracle at some point."

Naruto hmmed, not really interested in knowing more at the moment, because he didn't what the oracle was. Two teenage girls were sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts. Their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They waved, like they knew him.

Naruto just waved back in a friendly manner.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

'_A certain blue dwarf I know wouldn't mind. His germaphobe brother, on the other hand…'_ Naruto trailed off in thought of one of his blacksmith teachers.

"They aren't so bad." Naruto said to her as he looked at her. "The couple that live in Central Park were quite nice to me. Of course, I was 11 when I first met them and maybe things of changed since them, but the point is, a little flirting isn't so bad. Don't you think?" Annabeth did privately agree with him, especially since they were developing something between them.

"Anyway," Annabeth said. "The point is, the borders are sealed to keep normal mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So, I take it you're a year-rounder?" Naruto asked. Annabeth nodded. She pulled a leather necklace with 9 clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most counsellors, and they're all in college."

Naruto nodded and looked at the entrance to the camp. "So… I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless…"

"Unless?" he asked.

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time…" Her voice trailed off. It didn't take a genius to realize that last time hadn't gone well.

"So," Naruto said, switching the subject yet again, "what's happening during the Summer Solstice?"

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So, you _do _know something?"

"Well, that depends." Naruto said as they moved into the forest so no-one could ease drop, subtly looked around to make sure no one was around, before speaking to her in a lower voice. "Has anyone told you what's happening?"

She clenched her fists as she leaned against a tree. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they seem to know something, but they won't tell anyone. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so _normal._"

"You've been to Olympus?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others- we took a field trip during the winter solstice 3 weeks ago. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"How did you get there?" Naruto wondered.

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at him like he already knew about it. "You _are a_ New Yorker, right?"

"Sure," Naruto said sarcastically, teasing her a bit. "Because I've totally seen a magical palace for the gods floating above me a thousand feet up everyday on my morning run."

She blushed, just remembering that he was still new to some of this. "Sorry. Right after we visited, the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came along, I was hoping… I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And there's the rivalry she has with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

"We can," Naruto said as he moved closer to her, getting in her personal space, and whispered to her in her ear, "The Master Bolt has apparently been stolen."

"Wha-"Annabeth asked, shocked that he was telling her that, "How do you-?"

"One of the Furies came after me and accused me of stealing it." Naruto whispered to her, his breath hot on her ear, "Alecto died easily enough. But someone stole Zeus's little nuclear glowstick and is likely framing me. My thoughts are on either Hades, or someone with a grudge against Zeus and Poseidon."

"So, I'd say, we can definitely work together." Naruto said as Annabeth tried super hard to contain her blush. She was much more confident than she was the first time she liked a guy but, damn. This guy was getting up in her personal space, teasing her while dropping a huge bombshell about what happened on the Winter Solstice, yet she could barely focus as she took in his handsome face, his steel-hard muscles that she could see straining against his shirt. She briefly wondered how his lips might taste on hers or how-

'_Stop, bad girl!'_ Annabeth thought to herself as she regained her bearings enough to get control of herself. '_You just met this guy! Give it a little more time before you go there.' _She definitely liked him and she was sure he liked her back but she wanted a little more time before she and he got together.

"I'll see you later," Annabeth said, as she slipped away from him but not before Naruto caught her smile as she walked away.

**Cabin Eleven**

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and messing around, waiting for dinner. Naruto noticed that a lot of the Hermes kids had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They seemed to be the pranksters of the cabin, or the camp. Naruto found himself amused, because of how he used to prank in his first life but he didn't do that anymore in this life. He had outgrown that, though he reminisced on old times, like defacing the hokage monument or pranking Sarutobi with the **Sexy Jutsu**, as he sat in the corner, drawing up schematics for something he was planning to make.

The counsellor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes resemblance, too. It was marred by the scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. Naruto still didn't trust him, as he closed his journal, the **Blood Privacy Seal** on it activated, so if anyone but him looked at it, they would find nothing but blank pages. "Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

"Thanks." Naruto said neutrally, his senses still warning him this guy was dangerous and should not be trusted.

"No prob." Luke sat next to them, pushing his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle but part of me doesn't feel like I belong here." Probably the part of him that was used to being on his own.

"Yeah," Luke said. "That's how it always starts. Once you start believing in them, it doesn't get any easier."

"That how it was with your dad?" Naruto asked.

Luke pulled out a switchblade out of his pocket. For a second Naruto thought he was going make a stab at him, but he just scraped some mud off the sole of his shoe. "Yeah. Hermes."

"Hmm." Naruto noted, clearly a touchy subject, since Naruto could sense the anger and hatred coming from Luke.

"So, what's the deal with Annabeth and Clarisse? They bitter rivals or something?" Naruto asked and Luke seemed amused.

"So, you picked up on that? Yeah, those two have always been at each others throats. It used to just be they didn't like each other, cause their parents don't get along, but then 2 years ago, there was this guy they both liked, and lets just say, it didn't end well." Luke said.

"What? He didn't die or anything, surely." Naruto asked.

"No, but he ended up not being able to put up with the two girls fighting over him and chose someone else. They're rivalry has been worse ever since, since they blame each other for losing their crush to someone else. Now come on, it's dinnertime." As soon as he said that, a horn blew in the distance.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty or so of kids, filed into the commons yard. They lined up in order of seniority, so of course Naruto was last. Campers from other cabins came too, except the three empty cabins at the end and cabin eight, which now glowed silver as the sun went down.

They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined the group from the meadows. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods, literally. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in the bronze brazier. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded.

He saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blonde boys who looked just like Dionysus. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being too small for him.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with grey eyes and blonde hair.

Clarisse sat behind him at Ares' table.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everyone went silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody raised their glasses. "To the gods!".

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, bread, and barbecue. Naruto's glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want- non-alcoholic of course."

Sighing, as he left his stash back at his apartment, Naruto said, "Pepsi," Sure enough, the liquid filled his glass. He took a sip, annoyed because he was planning to have alcohol tonight. Then some food was given to him.

Naruto was about to dig in, but Luke said, "Come on!". His stomach needed good food, right now! He followed him to the fire and saw people throwing in a good portion of their food in it. This made Naruto wonder why you would throw away good food.

"Burnt offerings for the gods," Luke explained. "They like the smell."

Naruto looked puzzled. "Why would an immortal, all-powerful being love the smell of burnt food?" Naruto asked.

Luke approached the fire without answering him, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."

When it was Naruto's turn, Naruto just picked the names of gods he liked in particular.

"Demeter, Hestia, Persephone, Poseidon, Kymopoleia, Rhode, Amphitrite, Khione," he muttered. In order, his grandmother, the patron of the hearth, his father, his immortal half-sisters, his step-mom, and the goddess who was associated with his favorite season.

He threw a very small piece of his barbecue after saying each name, which filled the air with a different smell. For Demeter and Persephone, the smell of freshly harvested corn, wheat, and soybeans filled the air. For Hestia, the smell of many different delicious foods filled the air. For his father, step-mother, and half-sisters, the salt could practically be tasted in the air, and when he gave honor to Khione, a chill could be felt in the air.

People raised their eyebrows at all the gods he named, but Naruto left before anyone could ask any questions.

After that, both boys ate quickly. Naruto learned that they even made pizza here, another one of his favorite foods. Even better, it seemed never-ending here. Naruto was quickly learning to love this place.

Naruto also saw table ten, which was completely pink. Sitting there were tons of boys and girls, all good-looking and beautiful. His attention, however, was on Silena, who was chatting with some of her siblings. She saw him, smiled and waved. He waved back. Her siblings saw this and burst into giggles and chatter.

Chiron pounded his hoof for attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activity director, Chiron, says that capture the flag is this Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D muttered. "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that you that we have a new camper today. Nate Ulgaffe."

Naruto glared at him for getting his name wrong. On purpose.

Chiron muttered something. "Er, Naruto Uzumaki." Mr D. corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everybody cheered. They all headed down to the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked.

**Timeskip**

Naruto entered the forge during the next morning. He had not been able to use a decent forge in 3 years and needs to refresh his skills. He woke up early, so no-one was in the forge when he went in. He first started with steel. Reforging a few kunai and shuriken that he had lost over the years. Then he started pulling out the celestial bronze, as he made a whole new set of Kunai and Shuriken.

He was getting started on another when he heard a noise.

"Hey there, you're up early." Came the voice of large African American man behind him. Naruto turned around to see the guy addressing him with a friendly.

"Yeah, I had a lot of forging to do, wanted to get some of it done today before anyone else got here." Naruto said.

"Charles Beckendorf," The guy held out his hand for Naruto and they shook hands.

"Right, Hepheastus' kid," Naruto said as they shook, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"You work a lot in forges?" Charles asked as he quickly glanced over Naruto's forge work with the kunai and shuriken he had and found it to be very good.

"Quite a bit when I lived in Norway for a few years. Was taught by a couple brothers that know the trade well." Naruto answered as that was where he ended up after he came out of Challengers Deep after his mom died.

"Hey man, since you're here, I could use your help with my weapons." Naruto said.

"Sure, I'd be happy to help, but are you sure you want to make your own? We have a whole selection of guns, bows and arrows in the armory." Charles pointed out.

"I know, but I've always worked best with knives and shuriken." Naruto said as he and Charles got started on making more kunai knives.

**Few Hours Later**

The first activity Naruto had was Sword and Shield class and it was taught by Clarisse. She took this well and decided to prove herself against him.

"Think you can win, Uzumaki?" asked Clarisse as they circled each other, with their audience watching silently.

"Can't say as I'm the most skilled with a sword." Naruto said, judging her reaction.

Clarisse got a cocky smirk on her face and swung her blade to the side, hoping to catch him off guard. He just blocked it with a reversed blade, smirking. "I didn't say I've never used them, I just don't have any formal training in the Greek Style."

"Still, don't expect to last too long then, Fishcake," She teased him, hoping to use that to unbalance him. It worked.

"My name does not mean-!" Naruto argued back, as he got annoyed when people mispronounced his name or got the wrong meaning, only to get shield-bashed in the face.

'_Ugh, idiot. I've got to stop doing that. This is becoming an issue for me.'_ Naruto cursed at himself as he ducked under a sword strike and blocked another as he came back to his feet. Naruto blocked several slashes from Clarisse before she locked her sword with his and used her skill to twist out of his grip, and then bashed Naruto in the jaw with the shield. Naruto stumbled away, more due to the unexpected nature of the attack, and not because it actually hurt him.

'_Now I'm starting to get annoyed.'_ Naruto thought in anger and he decided to stop holding back as much. He rushed up and punched her shield, causing a loud sound to reverberate through the camp as he grabbed the shield and twisted it with Clarisse's arm still attached, causing her to spin around in the air. She managed to land on her feet. Naruto pulled the shield out of her grip and slipped it onto his own arm before he used it to block a kick from her and punched her in the gut, knocking her 3 yards back. Clarrise got back up with an excited look in her eyes as she ran at him. Naruto threw the shield in a straight line, with Clarisse forward rolling to the ground to avoid it, causing the shield to embed itself deeply into the trunk of a tree. Clarisse leapt up and kneed him in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. She then threw a right hook, but Naruto blocked it and jabbed her in the face. He threw a hook of his own, but Clarisse was an expert in hand-to-hand, and blocked the attack, before using a wrestling maneuver to throw Naruto to the ground. Naruto kicked her legs out from under her and she fell on her back. The next thing she knew was that he was on top of her waist, holding each of her wrists with each hand.

"Now that is called improvising." He said into her ear, making her shudder, but she did not get to enjoy it much because he got off of her and offered her a hand to get back up. She gratefully took it and walked away silently. No one saw the blush on her face as they were all asking if Naruto could spar with them.

**That Afternoon**

At other times, Naruto went to the stables to hang out with Silena, or learn pegasi-riding. Today he stood in the stables with her as he watched her demonstrate how to put a saddle on the back of a Pegasus. She'd been showing him for the last ten minutes. The pegasi seemed to like him, allowing him to ride them no problem. Silena recalled that no one became friendly with the pegasi that quickly, not even her. Naruto simply replied that horses seemed to like him, though he privately guessed that it had to do with Poseidon being his dad, and Posiedon being the creator of horses. Then he and Silena led two pegasi out of the stables. She was riding a white horse, while Naruto was riding a beautiful brown horse with chestnut brown eyes named Porkpie.

Naruto was about to steer Porkpie along when he heard a voice in his head, saying, _Stupid boy. Probably try and fall flat on his face, riding a majestic steed like me_.

Turning to the only possible suspect, he peered down at Porkpie. "I can hear you, ya know," Naruto said to the horse.

Silena looked at him oddly. "Naruto, you okay?" she asked, concerned.

Naruto ignored her and continued looking at the Pegasus expectantly. He knew that he probably looked crazy right now, but he didn't care. After a moment, he heard the voice in his head again, this time shocked._ 'Y-you can understand me?', _The horse asked, neighing instead of speaking.

Naruto continued ignoring the stare Silena was giving him and replied back, "Yeah, I can hear." He said with relief.

_'A child of milord?' _The Pegasus responded, shocked.

"Yep, that's him," Naruto acknowledged.

"Naruto. Naruto." Silena snapped her fingers in front of his face, breaking him out of his thoughts. She pouted. "I've been calling you for two minutes. What was wrong?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrasment. "N-nothing," he said, filing his thoughts away for later. "Come on. Let's go riding."

**Nighttime**

At Night, Naruto snuck out into the forest to do some extra training. He put his hands in the familiar cross shape and made himself 1000 **Shadow** **Clones**. "Alright, I want a quarter of you working on Chakra Control, another ¼ to practice the forms in those Greek Scrolls we found on sword fighting. Another ¼ works on elemental ninjutsu. Last one's of you, Taijutsu. Now get to work." His obeyed him and set about their tasks.

Naruto meanwhile walked onto the water and closed his eyes and concentrated his chakra before going through a set of 10 handseals and said, "**Ninja Art: Inner Darkness Jutsu!"** Reality seemed to shift around him as a shadow covered form appeared a few from him on the water, until it took shape and looked like Naruto, except for the black sclera and red eyes.

"Hey, me," the dark look alike said.

"Hello, Yami," Naruto said.

"You looking to get your assed kicked?" Yami said as he took a fighting stance.

"Why else would I bring you out?" Naruto retorted as he and Yami rushed at each other, beginning a long spar, since they were the same person and neither of them could physically overcome the other.

**Timeskip**

Naruto was walking towards the camp store. As he was walking, he saw the Stoll brothers, two sons of Hermes who happened to be identical to each other, harassing a girl with warm brown eyes and long black hair. The Stoll brothers, Conor and Travis, were stealing from the camp store, with the girl yelling at them, trying to shoo them away.

Feeling pity on the girl, and knowing how much of a hassle the Stolls could be, he marched up, yelling, "Hey, doofusses, go bug someone else!".

The Stolls looked up, grinning when they saw Naruto coming towards them. "Why hello, Naruto," Conor, or Travis, said happily, still looting the camp store. "How may we help you today?"

"Yes, Naruto," the other boy, who Naruto assumed was Travis, replied. "How are you on this fine day."

"Peachy," Naruto said dryly. "Now can you leave the poor girl alone? We wouldn't want someone to get pranked later on, now would we?" Naruto asked.

Both boys grinned challengingly. "Ooh, we have a prankster on our hands?" Connor asked gleefully.

"Possibly," Naruto replied. "But let's deal with that later on?"

"Fine," Travis sighed dramatically. "But we'll hold you to that promise, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Now beat it." Naruto grumbled, probably going to have to deal with this later.

Thankfully both boys left, probably to prank some unfortunate victim, leaving Naruto alone with the girl.

"You okay?" Naruto asked.

The girl scowled, then sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem. I know how much of a pain those two can be."

"You have no idea." The girl scowled cutely. "They do this all the time. And they never stop."

"Well I'm about to suffer for defending you later. So your welcome." Naruto said, not looking forward to have to watch out for pranks.

"Thanks." The girl reached out, offering to shake my hand. "I'm Katie Garderner."

"Names Naruto," He shook her hand in return, feeling how rough it was.

"So, Katie," Naruto said, wanting to start a conversation. "Uh, who's your godly parent?"

She smiled, as if it were obvious as to who it was. "Demeter, goddess of agriculture."

Naruto couldn't stop himself from saying, "Well, guess that explains the name."

Thankfully Katie didn't look offended. Instead she giggled. "Well, I guess that also explains it." Naruto was just thankful that she wasn't angry.

Naruto ultimately forgot the reason he had come to the store in the first place in favor of talking with his cousin.

**Timeskip**

It was now the day of the Capture the flag game. Naruto had asked Katie if the Ares and Athena cabins were always on opposite sides, and Katie said most of the time.

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest and well rounded cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, and the best slots for activities-in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. From what he'd seen, Dionysus' kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.

Demeter's kids like Katie had the edge with nature skills and all things planting but they weren't very aggressive like he was.

From Aphrodite… they mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake, did their hair and gossiped. Hell, Silena was the only one he saw right now that was actually ready. When she saw him, she winked. Naruto thankfully didn't blush, and waved in response.

Charles and the rest of Hephaestus' kids were rough looking. They were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day, but again, not that many of them.

That left Ares' cabin, which made up the majority of the team.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, and ox hide shields coated in metal.

Naruto chose not to wear any armor.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

Blue team cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off towards the north.

Naruto caught up with Annabeth "So," Naruto said to her. "what's the plan? I'm a little out of the loop here."

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, sadly." Naruto was annoyed.

"Don't worry, it's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to us. Athena always has a plan."

**10 minutes later**

Naruto was getting a little annoyed at how long it was taking for someone to come after him. He was about to sub with a shadow clone, but then he heard a twig snap behind him.

"Well, lookey what we got here." One voice came from the four voices that Naruto heard. Naruto widened his eyes when he sensed what they were.

"A demigod, all by his lonesome, Ma," said another as the four cyclops came out of the bushes for Naruto to see. Rage quickly filled him as he looked at the monsters. Their species had been partially responsible for his mothers death. The cyclopes didn't seem to notice his growing rage as they kept talking.

"We eat good tonight, Pa!" one of the younger cyclopes said.

Naruto had enough and pulled out 4 of the kunai he had made with Charles and threw them at the Cyclopes, enhancing them with Wind Chakra. His aim was true, as each kunai pierced through both the eye and brains of each cyclopes, causing them to explode in gold dust.

Unfortunately, as he was about to ponder how they got inside the barrier, the Ares Cabin and Clarrise arrived behind him just as the cyclopes fully disintegrated. He turned to face them.

"The flag over there, fyi," Naruto told them as he stuck his thumb behind him.

"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You dipshits do that well enough without my help," Naruto pointed out, pulling his mothers Kopis out.

"Shit!" one of the Ares kids said. "Charge!"

Two Ares kids rushed Naruto and he parried their sloppy strikes away before hilt-slamming one in the forehead, while punching the other in the face.

The other Ares kids rushed Naruto, who smirked and ducked, sweeping their feet and making them land on the ground, knocking them out. Then he pulled the shield off that one and threw it Captain America Style. It hit the Ares kid's nose and smacked him down painfully.

He sliced another kid across the chest. It was a shallow cut, the fool would heal easily enough. Then he disarmed him and elbowed him in the face, knocking him out. Clarisse charged, her electric spear sparking.

Naruto handled it with ease, ducking and weaving around several stabs. He caught the shaft of her spear with one hand, then snapped it when he hit the spear with his sword.

"You know, that was a gift from my dad." Clarrisee pointed out as Naruto dropped the spear.

"Sorry but you were trying to skewer with that thing just now." Naruto pointed out.

"True. A few years ago, I would have been pissed beyond belief, but now? Well, I think I might have outgrown the spear," Clarisse said she closed her eyes as flames appeared on the palm of her one hand and she put her in her flame-covered palm. A bronze pommel appeared in her fist and when she pulled it away, an elaborate greatsword was in her hand. The grip and bronze circular pommel were rather simple, but the hilt was three hound heads that seemed like they were breathing metal, which formed into the blade, before the blade itself was coated in red fire. Clarisse reopened her eyes and they now were colored crimson, like the color of blood.

"Oh, that's new. Neat Sword," Naruto complimented as he gripped his mothers Kopis and channeled a **Chidori** through it.

"Let me give you a closer look at it!" Clarisse roared as she brought it down on his head. Naruto blocked the giant sword but he was not prepared for the increased strength Clarisse seemed to possess. In fact, he had been so caught off guard that he almost didn't stop the sword before it cut through his shoulder. Using his super-strength he forced the blade off, and then was forced to parry a swipe from Clarisse that forced him back.

Clarisse kept coming at him, forcing him to step back with every swipe, before he locked blades and they got in each other's face. "That trick of yours, I didn't know Ares kids could do that." Naruto grunted.

"I'm more special than my siblings." Clarisse pointed out as they broke the lock and began swiping at each other. Now that Naruto had time to get used to her new strength, he was more ready for her, clearly showed by how he was able to parry each of her strikes and not lose any more ground.

"You're doing pretty well with the sword, but how will you handle this!?" Clarisse demanded as she dispelled her sword and summoned a Warhammer in it's place. Said Warhammer was all metal, from the point at the base of the hammer to the tip. But what caught Naruto's attention was the hammer was shaped like two helldogs' heads with glowing red eyes. Naruto dodged to the side as the hammer came down, kicking up a cloud of dust. Naruto had to back pedal but he was not quick enough as the Hammer slammed into him and he was sent flying into the tree.

He saw her dispel the hammer and coat her fist in fire, before rushing at him. Naruto didn't think he wanted to take that hit and flashed through handsigns before muttering, "**Lightning Style: Overdrive!"** Lightning began to arc around his body as the lightning filled his central nervous system, increasing his reaction time by nearly 3 fold. Naruto moved out of the way of the attack, letting her fist impact the tree, causing a fiery explosion that left the tree fairly gouged out and burned near the base, and without the base it quickly toppled over.

They were about to continue their brawl but then they heard yelling, elated screams, and saw Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red teams banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollo kids after them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids.

Everyone converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. The blue side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned into grey. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everyone on the blue team picked Luke up and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. They had won.

Clarisse sighed in disappointment as she dispelled the flames around her hand and her eyes returned to normal, while Naruto undid his jutsu and put his mother's kopis away. "Too bad, I was enjoying that." Clarisse voiced her frustration.

"No worries. We can do this again tomorrow," Naruto offered, allowing some of Clarrisse's disappointment to go away as she now had a sparring partner she could go all out on.

Naruto was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice appeared next to him say, "Not bad, hero."

Naruto looked around but couldn't see her. She then reappeared with her cap in her hand and said, "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?"

It just registered to Naruto that she was invisible, with what seemed like her cap being the cause. Naruto said, "You put me here because you knew the Ares Cabin would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank."

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

Naruto growled, not amused. "I'm a little disappointed you used me as bait and didn't tell me, Annabeth. I thought we were closer than that."

"Look, I didn't want to use you as bait but-" Annabeth started, trying to let him know that she did not want to use her crush as bait but it was the best strategy. Then she stopped, as a howl ripped through the forest, interrupting his thoughts.

The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which Naruto understood perfectly as, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword as Naruto looked to where the howl came from.

There on the rocks just above them was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.

It was looking straight at Naruto.

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Naruto, run!"

The blonde had tried to step in front of him, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her-an enormous shadow with teeth-just as it was about to hit Naruto.

Naruto punched the dog in the face, his super-strength causing it's massive body to shift sideways while in the air and fall to the ground, though it's claw managed to lightly graze Naruto in the stomach. Naruto was immediately upon it as he slammed both of his fists down on the Hellhound's head, dazing the creature and probably crushing it's skull as Naruto grasped it's jaw with both hands. The monster raged and roared but Naruto would have none of it and used his massive strength to break the hellhounds jaw, killing it with a sickening crunch and causing it to turn to gold dust when he threw it's corpse down.

He ran his fingers along the slash mark on his stomach. Chiron galloped over to check on him.

"Are you alright, child?" he asked gently.

"I'm still alive." He nodded.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That was a hellhound from the Field of Punishment. They don't… they're not supposed to…"

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said sternly, "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over, worry on his face. Naruto, didn't see it, since he wasn't paying attention.

Sherman Yang, who woke up from his 'nap', yelled, "It's all Naruto's fault! Naruto summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told the brat, obviously not believing him.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told Naruto. "Quick, Naruto, you need help."

"I have help," he said, waving her off, and stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him. Instantly, the wounds on his stomach were closing up. Some of the campers gasped. But they weren't looking at him, they were looking above him.

Looking upwards, Naruto saw an already fading symbols above his head. Naruto could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident. Yet above, slightly smaller, that was a yellow grain of wheat.

"Your father and…oh boy," Annabeth murmured, looking back at Naruto. "This is really not good."

"About damn time," Naruto muttered silently.

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

All around them, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy.

"All hail, Naruto Uzumaki," Chiron said, "Son of Poseidon, God of the Seas, Stormbreaker Earthshaker. Grandson of Demeter, Goddess of the Earth and agriculture."

All of a sudden, Naruto started to notice a searing pain running along his arms, steam forming around his arms and he gritted his teeth, groaning as burn scars in the shape of chains wrapped around his arms appeared on his arms.

And his vision blurred, and he saw a man with ash-white skin and a red tribal tattoo covering his eye and the left side of his body. He wore ancient armor and had two prominent scars. One over his right eye, and giant scar on his stomach, which looked like a stab wound.

The man gripped Naruto by his head and spoke in a deep, gruff voice. "When you are ready, you will know where to find me." Naruto passed out from whatever he did, unable able to hear Annabeth, Clarisse and Silena rushing toward him to help.

**Chapter end**

**A free cookie to anyone who can guess who that was. (Wink Wink)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Maelstrom of the Sea's**

**This is what the harem will look like so far. Some of the girls are still undecided as far as actresses are concerned.**

**Harem**

**Confirmed: Annabeth(Alexandria Daddario, Movie 2 appearance), Clarrisee La Rue(Lleven Rambin), Aphrodite(Amber Heard or Charlotte McKinney)**

**Not Sure: Amphitrite(Penelope Cruz or Amber Heard), Hestia(Kate Beckinsale), Silena(Adriana Lima), Artemis(Scarlet Johhansson), Hera(Angelina Jolie), Persephone( Rosario Dawson or Eva Mendes), Gaea(Eva Green), Khione(Natalie Portman), Calypso(Lucy Hale), Kymopelia(Katie McGrath)**

**Wanted to apologize for last chapter if I made it seem like Naruto suffered debilitating wounds. His skin is much tougher than a humans thanks to the underwater training and so the Hellhound claws barely cut him. Most of his injuries came from his spar with Clarisse.**

**Chapter 4**

**Naruto's Dream**

Naruto awoke, but not in the infirmary of Camp Halfblood nor his bed in the Hermes Cabin like he expected. Nope, Naruto awoke to a sunny sky, his back against soft blades of green grass, the sound of a waterfall in his ear. Naruto sat up in groan, getting a clearer picture of where he was. Last he remembered his father and grandmother had claimed him and then he saw an image of some weird white-skinned man as he gained chain-like burn scars on his arms. Looking to his arms, he saw that they were still there.

Grasping his arm and running his hand along them, he muttered, "What in the hell?" He was so confused at what was going on and he was not used to this. Standing up, he noted he was surrounded by forests and the waterfall. In the center of it all was a lake that the water from the fall dropped into.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement in the water. Curious, he moved closer, kneeling at the edge of the water. Not seeing or sensing anything at first, he saw his own reflection in the water before it began to change. The image of a man on a horse, similar to the white skinned one he saw before he fell unconscious.

Naruto heard him shout, "We must not stop! Go forth! Go forth in the name of Sparta!"

Then strangely, Naruto began to hear a woman's voice in head, "Once a captain in the Spartan army, Kratos had begun his command with only fifty soldiers, but soon his numbers grew to the thousands." Naruto was confused why he was hearing voices in his head, but he was curious as to who the man was, so he continued to watch as the images changed to Kratos killing enemy soldiers without mercy in brutal ways, the voice speaking again, "His tactics were brutal, but effective. Drunk with power, he was feared by all. Except one, his wife was the only one to brave his fury." Naruto saw the image change to the woman he assumed was the mans wife and daughter.

Kratos' wife demanded of him while holding their daughter close, "How much is enough Kratos?! When will it end?!"

Kratos had only one answer, "When the glory of Sparta is known throughout the world!" He did not even seem apologetic about his brutality and seemed to believe he was justified in his actions.

Kratos' wife didn't seem to care for the answer and Naruto could understand, as that seemed like an answer of someone trying to justify their brutal actions. "The glory of Sparta... You did this for yourself!" As Kratos' wife looked back at him, blood ran from her eyes.

The image changed again, to show an image of Kratos with his army before everything was burning around him. "His desire for conquest knew no bounds, but that which he desired would ultimately consume him..."

The scene in the pool changes again, showing Kratos and his army charging into battle on horseback, which told him that Kratos must have lived after the Peloponnesian war occurred, because the Spartan's didn't start using cavalry in any capacity until late into that war. The beautiful voice speaking inside his head once more, "The youngest and boldest captain in the Spartan army, Kratos had inspired fierce loyalty in his men. It had always been enough to carry them through any battle, until this day."

"The barbarians to the east numbered in the thousands, and descended on the Spartans, without mercy." The voice said and Naruto saw as the scene shifted to show thousands of barbarians waiting to ambush Kratos and his army. This did not make sense to Naruto, because he could not recall any such gathering of barbarians from history, not to mention, those barbarian's looked Germanic, so he was not sure what was happening. What he did know was that Kratos was walking into a trap, as the barbarians outnumbered the Spartan army by nearly 3 to 1. The barbarian leader fired an arrow at a soldier riding beside Kratos and took off his skull.

The scene shifted again to show Naruto that while the Spartan's, caught off guard and ambushed as they were, managed to take out many barbarian's, the barbarians seemed unnaturally strong, taking out 3 spartan's for every one barbarian that fell. It seemed unreal, almost like the barbarians were mystically empowered or something. "The battle lasted mere hours. The discipline and training of the Spartans did little to stem the tide of the merciless barbarians."

Kratos' soldiers are shown battling with everything they have but it was not enough as the bloodthirsty barbarians slaughtered them. "The soldiers faced a massacre, while their young captain faced the end of his brilliant career, and his life." The voice said again.

Naruto was enraptured with the story. After a few moments of the images stopping and the voice in his head not speaking, he realized that couldn't be the end and wanted to know what happened next. "Surely that is not all there is."

"You are not young ready for the whole story in a single night, young sage." The voice was no longer in his head but he could hear it as he would hear any normal person when talking to him. Whirling around, he saw a woman in a green drees though a cloak that looked like the surface of the earth itself shrouded her head from sight, yet Naruto could see hints of beautiful curly black hair and a serene smile.

"Why thank you for the compliments, young demi-god. I haven't received such compliments for what feels like many years." She suddenly said, and Naruto remembered that they were probably in his head so his thoughts were being broadcasted outloud.

"You…mentioned something about not being ready," Naruto asked, a little embarrassed that thoughts he would normally keep private had been heard by this likely beautiful woman.

"The story of Kratos is not something that can be told in a single night, young Naruto. But do not worry, as you suspect, what little I have showed you is not the end. It is merely part of the beginning of Kratos' tale." The woman said.

"But what does this Kratos have to do with me? And I just realized I didn't ask for your name." Naruto said.

The woman just smiled and said, "Why ask a question, you already know the answer to?" That confirmed it for Naruto, as he could now make out the beautiful face beneath the earthly shroud. A beautiful face with eyes that seemed to be permanently closed.

"We will speak more when next you sleep. For now, do not reveal anything about Kratos. Do not go looking for knowledge of this man, as you will not find it. You must not reveal even a hint that you know of him. If you do, I fear for your life." The woman said as everything around Naruto faded and he awoke to the real world.

Gaea was indeed interested in the young man. A powerful demigod of her grandson Posiedon, related to Demeter and Kratos through his mother. And if what she has seen from his mind is any indication, from his first life to becoming Hokage to being reborn in this one, he will grow to become very powerful. Yet she was not yet sure what she wanted from him at the moment. She had tried to use Kratos long ago to enact revenge on the Gods after her defeat in the First Gigantomachy and that plan had failed miserably. For now, she would simply guide him on the inevitable path that would lead him straight to Kratos. And after that, she would see what to do with him.

After all, it had been thousands of years since she had a husband to share her bed with. Her first Ouranos, had been her first love but he turned cruel when her womb brought forth the Hecatonheires and the Elder Cyclopes. Tarturus was so apathetic and self absorbed that he never left the pit that bore his name. Perhaps, if Naruto proved himself worthy, the 3rd time would be the charm. After all, he was quite handsome and had this aura that just attracted followers to him. It would be little surprise to her that this more aware Naruto would have multiple lovers vying for his attention and a large group of followers. Such were the qualities of a king.

**Camp **

The morning that Naruto awoke, he was greeted to the sight of Annabeth and Clarisse bickering over something with Silena trying to keep the peace between the two of them. Naruto groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head, as he felt like he had a headache.

The girls ceased their bickering when they heard him rise from back to sit up. "Naruto." They all said in concern as they moved to his side of the bed.

"Morning," Naruto said, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief as he was alright.

"Hey, Fisk-Cake," Clarisse asked. Naruto weakly stick his tongue out at her, not having the energy to come up with a comeback, causing her to chuckle, "What do you remember before passing out?"

"Well, before the pain started, besides having an awesome fight with War Girl, manhandling a Hellhound, my grandmother and father finally getting their act together and claiming me, not much before the pain started." Naruto said as he pulled the bandages off his hands to see the chain-shaped burn scars.

"They just appeared out of nowhere." Silena mentioned, her soft hands tracing out the scars on his arms.

"I don't understand how you could have gotten these." Annabeth said, as her brain was stumped, trying to figure out how he could have gotten chain shaped scars.

"Neither do I, though they do look cool," Naruto shrugged, not about to say anything about this Kratos character until he knew more.

"If you are able to stand Naruto, given that you have been claimed now, we must see your new living arrangements." Chiron said.

"Yes, I suppose we do." Naruto said as he stood up. "Lead the way, Chiron."

**Timeskip**

That morning had Naruto move to Cabin Three. Naruto now had plenty of room for all his stuff. He could sit at his own dinner tables, pick his own activities, go to sleep when he wanted to, and not listen to anybody else.

Naruto was isolated from most of the kids at camp, but he didn't really care, he was used to living on his own anyway. Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but he knew they were all talking about it behind his back. The attack had scared everybody and made 2 things clear: one, that he was the son of the Sea God, grandson of Demeter and had superstrength, making him very powerful and not somebody to mess with; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill him. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.

Naruto wasn't really bothered by the whole mood the camp had. Naruto still had a few people, like Katie from Demeter, Charles Beckendorf from Hephaestus along with some of his siblings, Silena, and a few others. Thank god that Clarisse and Annabeth still interacted with him regularly.

The other campers steered clear from him as much as possible.

Cabin Eleven was too nervous to have sword class with him after what he'd done to the Ares kids and watching him manhandle the Hellhound with brute strength, so he pretty much only trained with Clarisse anymore in weapons.

Annabeth still taught him Greek in the mornings, but seemed distracted.. After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest… Poseidon?... Dirty rotten… Got to make a plan…"

And at least that following night, Gaia visited him in his dreams, showing him more about Kratos.

**Flashback**

_Naruto was inside his mindscape while his body slept. Once again, Gaea's visage stood next to him while Naruto stared into the reflecting pool, watching more of Kratos's story be told. Right now, they were picking up where they had left off the first time._

_"But to Kratos, victory was worth any price, even his life," Gaea said as the scene showed Kratos about to be smashed to death by the barbarian._

_As the barabian raised his hammer, Kratos called out for aid. "ARES! Destroy my enemies, and my life is yours!"_

_The scene showed the sky splitting apart and a massive shadow was cast over the battlefield and time seemed to slow to a still. Or perhaps it was all in Kratos head. Regardless, Gaea continued to narrate. "The sky split apart, and the god of war stepped through, descending from Olympus, Ares saw the makings of a god of Earth. Ares would save this mortal and make him into the perfect warrior. His servant on earth. Only one a simple pledge of loyalty required of him." Naruto was able to glimpse Ares as he was back then. Ares was powerfully built with charcoal grey skin, his hair and beard were long and seemingly made of fire, his armor was painted blood red and depicted growling war hounds on it, and he gave off an aura that incited rage and hatred._

_Kratos moved from bowing his head and rose to his knees. "My life is yours Ares. From this day, I shall carry forth your will."_

_Gaea continued to narrate the story for Naruto."And his fate was sealed, as promised, Ares rescued his new disciple, bringing forth the power of a god, destroying those who would slaughter Kratos and his men." The scene in the pool showed the god using his powers to kill the Germanic soldiers in brutal and supernatural ways. Some erupted into flames, some had their heads explode and other were lifted into the air and snapped in half like twigs._

_Ares then summoned several harpies to carry the Blades of Chaos. "As for Kratos, no mere sword and shield would befit the newest servant of the God of War. The Blades of Chaos, forged in the foulest depths of hades."_

_Kratos extended his arms out, accepting his patron's gift. "Once attached, the chains remained so, chained and seared to the flesh, a part of the bargain, a permanent reminder of Kratos' pledge." The chains were indeed so hot that they seared his flesh and Kratos did shout in pain._

_"In return, ultimate power." Gaea said. The scene showed reality resume, and Kratos used the blades to decaptitate the barabarian that would have killed him. His head flew off his body shock and confusion at what had happened, while Kratos could be seen with a sadistic look in his eyes. "The rage of Ares exploded from within, but soon, he would learn the true cost of such power, a cost too high, even for Kratos to pay..."_

_Naruto rubbed the scars on his arms, wondering what it meant for him now that he had these chain scars and how he was related to Kratos. _

_"Why do you show me this mans life, Lady Gaea?" Naruto asked bluntly, having figured out who she was from their first meeting. "What do you really want with me?" It concerned him, this interest the supposed ultimate enemy of Olympus had for him. He didn't know what she wanted and that made him suspicous._

_"I am interested in your development, young man. I am aware of everything that happens on my surface, so when I discovered your ability to utilize nature to your advantage, you gained my interest. Even more so with Kratos appearing before you. I want to see how you turn out." Gaea admitted to him._

_"And after that?" He asked, turning to face her._

_"You'll have to wait and find out." Gaea teased, as he began to wake from his dream. There was little he could do to stop her, he didn't have the ability to block her out of his head. Naruto would simply have to prepare for the worst, in the likely case that what she wanted was nefarious in nature._

**Flashback End**

A week would go by before Naruto had another dream. This one did not involve Gaia or Kratos.

He was on a beach. A hundred yards down the water, two men were fighting. They looked like wrestlers; muscular, with beards and long hair as they stood, taller than humans. Both wore flowing Greek tunics one trimmed in blue, the other green. They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.

Naruto stood there, knowing it was pointless to intervene. He knew it was a dream, but certain dreams had meaning. Naruto recognized his father, Poseidon, and realized that the other must be Zeus. Over the roar of the storm, he could hear Zeus yelling, _Give it back! Give it back! _Like a whiney child wanting his sweets.

The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying him with salt water. The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice that was deep and evil. '_Come down, little hero,' _the voice crooned. '_Come down!'_ The sand split beneath his feet, opening up a pit in the center of the earth.

Naruto awoke, looking out the window, seeing the dark clouds outside, showing it was night. Thunder rolled across the hills as the storm was coming.

There was a knock on the door of the cabin. Naruto went to answer and saw that it was Grover. "What?" he asked.

"Mr. D wants to see you," he said, looking gloomy.

"Why?"

"He wants to kill- I mean, he just wants to talk to you."

Growling, Naruto got out of bed and got dressed, gathering his weapons in case it would come down to a fight.

Over the Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in the boys' direction. The storm was massive. Definitely not something that could occur naturally.

At the volleyball court, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus' twins were walking around the strawberry fields, making plants grow. Everybody was going about their usual routine, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

The two walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had the first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents, two sets of cards hovering in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

Naruto scowled at Dionysus. He didn't like this fat, man child of a drunk one bit.

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.

Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

Chiron opened his mouth to say something but Naruto beat him to it when he said, "I have done nothing wrong. Unless you are so pigheaded as to believe I have committed some crime just for being born to Poseidon. But if that's the case, why don't I go and gut those two brats of yours? After all, they deserve it for being born of a god, don't they?"

Grover went whiter than a sheet as Dionysus glared at him. Naruto's killing intent suddenly erupted full force and slammed against Dionysus's. As this was going on even more lightning flashed across the sky.

After a moment, Dionysus rose, his killing intent fading and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose." He warned.

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. Like a credit card. He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, and then he was gone, leaving the faint smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.

Naruto scoffed out loud, relaxing his tense muscles as the potential threat to his life had disappeared. "Such a warm greeting from our resident god. Such a role model," he muttered sarcastically.

Chiron smiled at Naruto, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Naruto, please. And Grover."

"How do I know that I am not walking to my own chopping block?" Naruto said distrustfully.

Chiron sighed, somewhat understanding his reasons. "Naruto, they are not intending to kill you."

"Yeah, because Dionysus gave such a good impression," Naruto said sarcastically.

"I understand your distrust, but this is a matter of great importance." Chiron laid his cards on the table, Naruto sitting down, hesitantly.

"Tell me," Chiron said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

"It's nothing I haven't killed before," Naruto said with his arms crossed, "What concerns me more is how it actually got into those woods in the first place"

Chiron gave a sad smile at that. "Yes, we are still trying to figure out who summoned it. But I'm afraid you'll meet worse, young man. Far worse, before you're done."

"Done… with what?" Naruto asked, hesitant.

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?" Chiron asked Naruto.

"You haven't told me what it is yet." Naruto pointed out.

Chiron grumbled. "Well, that's the difficult part, isn't it? The details."

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the end of the beach. As far as they can see, the sky and the sea were melding together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," Naruto said getting it out there so there would be no beating around the bush. "They're fighting because Zeus' little nuclear glowstick was stolen. Zeus blamed my father and Poseidon is angry at Zeus for this slight. Did I miss anything?"

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.

Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You mean besides the fact that Alecto demanded to know where the Lightning Bolt was and I tortured it out of her?"

"I knew it," Grover said. He, like Chiron, had entered the room where Alecto and Naruto had been back on that field trip, and the scene of entering the room to find Naruto standing over a dead Alecto was suspicious, to say the least.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"But it's his quest!" Grover's exclaimed. "It must be."

"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his beard.

"Zeus' master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheared the top of Mt. Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

"And it's been stolen and someone's blaming me. That's just awesome" Naruto said sarcastically.

"At least"-Chiron held up a hand-"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. It was the usual nonsense; 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized that his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room right under his nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly- that is most forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero or two to have taken it."

"Zeus has good reason to be suspicious." Here Naruto rolled his eyes, mentally disagreeing with him. "The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of the lightning bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing he wasn't sure about was which hero or heroes Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could have easily snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."

"That fucking paranoid imbecile. Of course I was in New York, that's where I live, just like the other 8 million people that inhabit the city. I've never even been to Olympus before. Any idiot could see that." Naruto grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around them, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over the valley, sealing the area like a coffin lid.

"Er, Naruto…" Grover said. "We don't use those words describe the Lord of the Sky."

"Nonetheless," Naruto said. "It is impossible that I am the thief. Like I said, I didn't know where Olympus was until Annabeth told me, nor do I know how to gain access to Olympus. And if you want to use that logic, then technically every demigod that was actually in Olympus during the holiday could be held accountable."

Chiron then shook his head. "While I do agree with you on your behalf, Zeus is paranoid. Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe it was question thirty-eight on your final exam…" here he looked at Naruto knowingly.

"I'm pretty sure that was a plan concocted by Hera. My father only joined along because he was tired of being treated like crap by his little brother." Naruto pointed out.

"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the bolt. He took great offence at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for a while. And now you have come along-the proverbial last straw."

"Naruto," Grover cut in. "If you were Zeus, and you thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered two new mortal heroes who might be used as weapons against you… wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

Naruto snorted. "Kinda hypocritical of him to say, since he had a kid several years before Poseidon did." he said.

Grover looked sheepish at that.

Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try to convince Zeus that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief on the same date, June twenty-first, several months from now. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus' temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war looks like?"

"Disastrous, chaotic and destructive. That is how wars are." Naruto said. "What a war between Olympians would be like, I can only guess."

"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it makes the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."

"So, bad then," Naruto repeated.

"And you, Naruto, would be the first to feel Zeus' wrath."

It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.

"So Zeus is punishing the whole camp because he can't find his electric toothpick," Naruto said. "And I take it you think I need to be the one to get it back."

"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus' property?"

"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?" asked Naruto.

"I believe I know." Chiron's expression turned grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago… well, some of the lines make sense to me. But before I can say more, you must officially take the quest. You must seek the Oracle."

"Why can't you tell me where you think the bolt is beforehand?" Naruto asked.

"Because if I did, I fear you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."

Naruto crossed his arms. "I'm no coward. If I have to get Zeus' little dildo back so war between the gods doesn't break out, I'll do it. Because if I don't, the world basically ends."

"You agree then?" Chiron asked.

"Yes," he agreed.

"Then it's time to consult the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs to the attic. When you come down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

**Upstairs**

Naruto went up four floors that ended under a green trapdoor. Naruto pulled the cord and it swung open to reveal a ladder. The warm air above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else… something reptilian.

The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armour stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things-severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake head, but with horns and teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTICK, N.Y., 1969.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy. There was a tie-dyed sundress on it, with lots of beaded necklaces-the hippy kind-and a headband over long black hair. She looked shrivelled and dried up. Her eyes were glassy white, like marble slits.

Then, a green mist poured out of the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils. The mist hissed like thousands of snakes.

A voice hissed in both their heads. _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask. _

Naruto took a deep breath and asked, "What am I meant to do?"

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of him. It took the shape of 5 people that Naruto cared about dearly. The mist took the shape of Minato, Kurama, Kushina, Demeter, and his former wife Hinata.

Seeing his mother again made him want to break down and cry. Even though he grieved for her death, seeing her again brought back memories; memories of his time together with her. It made his heart break even more. He probably would have broken down if not for the fact that he knew that the woman before him wasn't real.

Minato turned towards him and spoke in the raspy voice of the Oracle: _You shall go west and face the god who has turned._

Kurama in a raspy voice said, _You shall find what is stolen, and see it safely returned._

Demeter said in the same voice, _You shall expose the traitor masquerading as a friend. _

Hinata spoke next, _You will save what matters most in the end._

Kushina gave the final line, _And you shall discover the truth of your relation to the dead._

The figures began to dissolve and the tail of the mist retreated into the mummy's mouth. Then she returned back into her original position, leaving Naruto alone. His audience with the Oracle was over.

**Back with Chiron**

"Well?" Chiron asked them with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto sat in his chair. "She said that I would retrieve what was stolen."

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."

"She said I would go west and face the god who has turned. That I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said.

Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?" he asked sternly.

"She also mentioned something about exposing a traitor masquerading as a friend and saving what matters most in the end. Still not sure what that means." Naruto said.

Chiron nodded, but still looked troubled. Naruto was unsure why. Chiron then spoke, "Very well. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Fine," Naruto said. "So, who's the god in the west?"

"Ah, think, Naruto," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other, who stands to gain?"

Naruto, after thinking for a minute, replied, "Hades. But that's way too obvious. As well as stereotypical to blame him."

"Ah, but think about it, Naruto," Chiron said. "He is someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the death of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath both have broken. The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

"I still don't really buy it." Naruto shrugged. Sure, Hades may have been sort of a dick, but that didn't automatically make him the culprit. Actually, why would Hades want to cause war if millions would die, swelling his kingdom up even more?

"A Fury came after you, Naruto," Chiron said. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

"Yes, but-but Hades hates _all _heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he found out that Naruto was the son of Poseidon…"

"A hellhound appeared into the forest," Chiron continued on. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone from this camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Naruto to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill him before he could take on the quest."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, '_ Still don't buy it. That dream with the hole in the earth. I don't know enough to say Hades is the culprit. Not yet.'_

"But a quest to…" Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt have been in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year?"

"Hades sent a minion to steal the bolt," Chiron insisted, seeming to believe that he had hit the nail on the head. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Naruto must go into the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

Naruto looked towards Chiron. "You've known I was his kid all along, haven't you?"

"I had my suspicions. As I said… I have spoken to the Oracle too."

Naruto just gave him a look but decided to drop the matter for now.

"So let me get this straight," Naruto said slowly. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld to confront the Lord of the Dead. Find the most powerful weapon in the universe. And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, which is a few months away from now."

"That's about right," Chiron nodded.

Naruto looked at Grover.

"You don't have to go," Naruto told Grover. "Hell, I wasn't even gonna ask that of you. You have your license now, you can search for Pan if you want." It hadn't taken much to convince the Council to give Grover his promotion. A few threats about sending them to Tartarus was enough to convince the council of fat satyrs that it was in their best interest to stay on Naruto's good side. And staying on his good side for them meant giving Grover the promotion he by this point, deserved.

He turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said go west."

"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America." Chiron said.

"I figured that. I meant, where?"

Chiron looked surprised that he had not guessed it. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."

"Oh," Naruto said sarcastically. "Because that's super obvious. If the location of Olympus wasn't obvious, then the entrance to the Underworld wouldn't be either." Chiron at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"Well, probably can't travel in the air. Zeus would probably just be a dick and blast me out of the sky if I tried." he said. Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed. "So we travel overland."

"That's right," Chiron said. "Two more companions may accompany you boy. One has volunteered, if you will accept her help."

The air shimmered around Chiron. Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap in her back pocket.

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said to Naruto. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to have at your side."

"A team of three," Naruto said. "That'll work. Now, I know who I want as the third member. I know the two of you have problems with each other, Annabeth. Can I trust you two to be civil while we travel together?"

Annabeth was not necessarily pleased that Naruto wanted to bring Clarisse, her rival, along for the ride. But logically she understood why. Clarisse was the 2nd best fighter at camp and having a tracker didn't make sense on this quest since they knew where they were going and what they needed to do. Her reasons for not wanting Clarisse along were for personal reasons.

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."

Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that wasn't supposed to have violent weather.

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

**Chapter End**


End file.
